Zim vs Afg Boxing Day Test – Sean Williams hopes to ‘lead by action’ for Zimbabwe’s future cricketers to learn from

“If I can lead with action and not with my mouth, I think the kids will grow out of that very quickly,” Williams said after the first day’s play. “They want to start doing the same things and start doing the same things off the field as well as on the field. And that, for me, is probably the best thing I can do as a senior player and also keep that discipline and professionalism in place.”

Zimbabwe’s current XI has three debutants – half-century scorer Ben Curran, Newman Nyamhuri and Trevor Gwandu – and three other players – Joylord Gumbie, Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Brian Bennett – in just their second Test. That makes Williams, with 19 years of international experience under his belt, their most experienced player (in terms of time as Ervine has several Test caps) who is keen to lead proactively.

Not only did Williams score big, but he scored fast. His hundred came off 115 balls and his next 54 runs off 59 deliveries as he took on Afghanistan’s bowling to dominate on home soil in what he described as a “historic day”.

“To be able to get a hundred on a day like this is a very big thing,” he said. “We used to wake up early in the morning to watch Boxing Day Test matches and it’s finally here at home.”

“Having intent doesn’t start at Test level. It actually starts at franchise level where I try to create my own pressure, to be able to play the way I’m going to play at international level.”

Sean Williams on his preparation

“We” refers to his father Colin, who died in April 2022, to whom Williams dedicated his performance, and his brothers Michael and Matthew. But it could also be about other aspiring Zimbabwean cricketers who grew up turning on the television to watch Boxing Days Tests being played in neighboring South Africa and at the MCG, wondering if they would ever get the chance to enjoy an occasion like this first – hand. The irony is not lost on the fact that matches at the two venues took place at the same time, and have attracted much more attention than what takes place at Queens Park, where there has also been quite a bit of drama.

Williams was on 124 when he was given out, caught off a Zahir Khan delivery that was carried off his pad to a slip fielder. He started to walk before the square leg umpire elected to check for a bump ball and he was called back to continue batting.

“I was actually a bit angry with myself, because like dough you stand your ground. Even if you’ve been given out, I feel you have the right to stand your ground for them to go and check. I did don’t. do it,” Williams said. “I started walking, trusting the umpire’s call, even though I knew I wasn’t out. But luckily the square umpire stepped across and said, ‘you know, I think we need to check this one’. It was a big emotional turnaround from that point because I had worked so hard.”

“Having intent doesn’t start at the test level,” he said. “It actually starts at the franchise level where I try to create my own pressure to be able to play the way I’m going to play at the international level. So I want to do something at the franchise level where I put myself under pressure so I always train hard And in a match situation it’s even better because you have the pressure, you’ve created it for yourself, and then you grow from it.’

Williams and Zimbabwe have already shown they can handle the pressure of a varied attack in Afghanistan. Their next challenge is to see if they can drive home their advantage to make even more history.