Tom Latham addresses Black Caps white-ball Captaincy prospect

By Alex Powell

Tom Latham is open to the prospect of taking charge of the Black Caps’ One Day International and Twenty20 International sides, after Kane Williamson’s decision to step down.

Following this year’s abrupt exit from the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, Williamson has opted out of a New Zealand Cricket central contract, leaving the Black Caps without a white-ball captain, and no guarantees over their most senior batter.

Having deputised for Williamson in the past, though, Latham looms as the standout to fill both of those roles.

In white-ball cricket, Latham has led New Zealand 57 times (44 ODIs and 13 T20s), and his career record as a batter improves as captain.

In ODIs, his career batting average as skipper increases from 35.03 to 43.83, with three of his seven centuries coming as captain. In the shortest format, his average increases from 25.80 to 35.30 when leading the side.

And should the tap on the shoulder come from the higher powers at New Zealand Cricket, Latham is more than willing to lead his country on a fulltime basis.

“It would obviously be a real honour,” Latham said. “For me, it’s always about trying to put the team first.

“I’m sure they’ll have discussions about what they want from a team point of view.

“If I get the opportunity to do that, it’ll be really special.”

Regardless of whether he gets the role or not, Latham will continue to be a leader in this Black Caps side.

Williamson’s lack of a central contract, and reported offer to play in South Africa’s SA20 competition, will leave a glaring hole at the top of New Zealand’s order over the summer.

However, given the conflated cricket calendar, the Black Caps playing without their best players available for the entirety of the home summer is nothing new

“We’ve seen over many years now, at times we haven’t had those senior guys,” added Latham. “Be it playing in the IPL or having a rest.

“That gives me an opportunity as a senior player to step up and lead as well. But also, [for] other guys who haven’t necessarily had opportunities in the past to step up in different leadership roles.

“It’s never great when you miss guys of Kane’s calibre, but it gives opportunities to other guys to put their best foot forward.”

Fortunately for New Zealand Cricket, Latham isn’t the only contender to lead the side, either.

Test captain Tim Southee could also find himself in the mix to take the job across all three formats, while Mitchell Santner has also led in T20s in Williamson’s absence.

The Black Caps don’t play white-ball cricket until November when they tour Sri Lanka, before a packed home summer that sees fixtures against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, either side of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy – also in Pakistan.

That leaves coach Gary Stead in no rush to lock in his next captain. However, speaking at NZ Cricket’s summer schedule launch, Stead outlined that whoever takes the job next will do so with the remit of leading the side to the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.

“It’s something that [selection manager] Sam Wells and I will talk about in the next little while,” said Stead.

“We’re not at the stage of confirming it yet, so I don’t want to speculate whether Tom will be or not. But he’s certainly one guy that will be in discussions around that role.

“The important thing is whoever is in place, we want in place for two to three years or so, leading to that next World Cup.

“That will be one of the important decision-making factors that we discuss.”

With the dates of the next World Cup still to be finalised, Latham will be at least 35 years old by then, while Southee will be 38 – if he’s still playing at all.

However, with Latham not being an automatic selection in the T20 side, the Black Caps could also look to split captaincy across all three formats.

At a time where cricket is branching ever further into a split between club and country, Latham is one of few Black Caps still in New Zealand, due to not having a contract to play in either England, the US or Sri Lanka’s T20 circuit.

That situation was to be remedied with a short-term deal to join Canadian side Montreal Tigers for their Global T20 tournament, only for a broken finger to rule him out over the coming weeks.

Now, though, he might have to wait for another chance to prove his worth to selectors in the shortest format.

“I was really looking forward to the opportunity to play some T20 cricket,” he continued. “I don’t necessarily get the opportunity to play a lot here in New Zealand, depending on the test schedule.

“It’s just one of those things you’re faced with as a sportsman, sometimes the stars don’t align.

“But I was really looking forward to the opportunity to go and play.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission