Is Kane able to succeed in England?

Kane Williamson's eight Test dismissals in England indicate a trend of dismissals by mistakes, not a deficient technique, and as errors are by nature avoidable, he could well excel in the upcoming England series and against India in the World Test Championship final.

A rare thing: a modern sports superstar who inspires little animus. From the outside, Kane Williamson is everything a non-Kiwi fan wants a New Zealand cricketer to be with his batting is based on class, watching the ball to the last second, playing with soft hands, and building runs via touch, not brute force. As a personality, he is as an understated, softly-spoken megastar who is deserving of a place among the modern greats as you're likely to see based on his 7114 Test runs, averaging over 54, with 24 centuries; these impressive figures have grown since he slipped effortlessly into being a calm (what else?) and tactically-astute captain. Williamson averages 62 as New Zealand captain which is the best figure for any man leading the Blackcaps and his total Test runs as skipper (3078) is second only to Stephen Fleming. In short, he is a seemingly gentle man succeeding at the cut-throat elite sport world, so you can see why most of the cricket world loves Kane Williamson.

One chink in his otherwise flawless Antipodean armour is Williamson's away batting average. While outside of New Zealand Williamson averages 42.53, which is decent, it is not as herculean as his average of 65.3 in Tests at home in New Zealand. In parts, but certainly not all, of New Zealand you could easily believe you were in England (if it's not too hot or volcanic), and with Williamson's soft hands and ability to play late, you would think the New Zealand skipper would excel in England. However, in his 4 Tests and 8 innings in England going back to 2013, Williamson averages only 30.88 which again is by no means terrible, but not at the level a modern great would want.

Williamson's dismissals in England

Lord's 2013 (England won by 170 runs)

1st innings: Williamson 60 (167) c Prior b Anderson (unlucky strangle down the leg-side)

2nd innings: Williamson 6 (24) c Finn b Broad (chipped to cover)

Headingley, 2013 (England won by 247 runs)

1st innings: Williamson 13 (50) LBW b Swann (on review)

2nd innings: Williamson 3 (24) LBW b Swann (on review)

Lord's, 2015 (England won by 124 runs)

1st innings: Williamson 132 (262) c Ballance b Ali (caught bat-pad)

2nd innings: Williamson 27 (70) c Root b Stokes (caught gully)

Headingley, 2015 (New Zealand won by 199 runs)

1st innings: Williamson 0 (2) c †Buttler b Anderson (outside edge, could have left it)

2nd innings: Williamson 6 (20) c †Buttler b Broad (outside edge, could have left it)

Lord's 2015 is undoubtedly a highlight for Williamson the batter in England and many esteemed Test batters - Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Stan McCabe, Brian Lara, Stephen Fleming, to name a few - don't have a ton and their name on the Lord's honour board. However, this is an oasis in a desert of below-par performances for Kane Williamson in England.

Overall, by looking at each Test, apart from Lord's, there is nothing to write home about for Williamson batting in England and in the one Test that New Zealand won (Headingley, 2015) he only made a total of 6 runs. With Broad & Anderson in good form you'd expect the veteran bowlers to trouble Williamson (and everybody else) in English conditions and could well add to their two wickets apiece against him in the upcoming series. Perhaps surprising are the three wickets against spin, especially as all these were early-season Tests, but England no longer have an off-spinner like Swann and Moeen Ali will not play.

Arguably for top batters, most wickets are avoidable if they chose to play in a different way; that is to say, without a mistake it would have been feasible to avoid dismissal if a different shot were played. A scroll through Williamson's wickets in England does show a number of errors: chipping Broad to cover, guiding Stokes to cover, nicking behind Broad and Anderson when the balls could have been left. So Williamson's Test dismissals in England have either been unlucky or careless, depending on how one looks at it, but either way it is something that he can potentially overcome and so prosper in England. 

There has been precedent for a superstar batter at first no succeeding in England only to come good eventually that comes from another member of the modern men's Test "Fab 5". Virat Kohli's first 10 innings in England in 2014 produced a total of 134 runs at 13.4, yet he turned his form around four years later when his next 10 innings brought 593 runs at 59.3. Williamson certainly has the tools to succeed in England, and I think most fans (including some of England's), hope for a similar renaissance in this upcoming series for the sheer joy of it.