Hesson laughs off Williamson's left-arm plans

Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, has dismissed the idea of Kane Williamson bowling left-handed at the highest level. Williamson, who has been banned from bowling in international cricket after his right-arm offspin action was deemed illegal by the ICC, had said in a radio interview that he might explore the option of bowling with his left-arm.

"You know, I'll certainly be trying as much as I can," Williamson had said. "Whether that's trying to do it with the other arm, that would be an interesting process but I'll certainly be giving it a crack."

Williamson is ambidextrous, Hesson said, but added it would be a stretch for him to raise his left-arm bowling up to international standard.

"I'm sure you've seen him in one-day internationals, he throws it in from the boundary with his left arm," Hesson told Dominion Post. "He's ambidextrous, but he's not our next Dan Vettori."

Hesson said enough remedial work needs to be done on Williamson's action before it is tested again. "We can't afford to rush it. If we do, and it doesn't work, then we'll be compromised. But the earlier we do that [test], the earlier we can start fitting him into the plan. He's worked as hard as anybody to remedy it and he wasn't that far off in the initial testing. But 15 degrees isn't a lot."