Cricket: Williamson heading to Yorkshire for spell

Black Caps batsman Kane Williamson has a short-term contract with Yorkshire to the end of the English county season.

Kane Williamson is winging his way back to England to get some vital batting practice before the Black Caps tour Bangladesh in October.

Tauranga-based Williamson has taken a short-term contract with well-performed English county Yorkshire, currently leading Division One with 158 points from 11 games. He will be there for the last five matches of the County Championship to cover for Gary Ballance, who has been named in the England Lions squad for three one-day matches against Bangladesh A, and his first match is against Nottinghamshire on August 21 at Trent Bridge.

Williamson said he was looking forward to getting some quality cricket in with one of the best teams in England who are based in Leeds at the test ground Headingly.

"This opportunity came up and it was my only opportunity to get some cricket in after having a bit of a break," Williamson said.

"After the English tour I stayed in Bristol a bit and caught up with some friends I have there from my time playing at Gloucester, and I have a close relationship with John Bracewell there.

"We obviously played the test up there (in June) and it was nice to spend some time there. I quite enjoyed the city and am looking forward to going up."

Yorkshire's head coach, former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie, says Williamson was top of the list of contenders they considered to join the county.

"Once we knew that Gary was unavailable, because of his international call-up, we made a conscious effort to bring in a proven international batsman to help bolster the squad," said Gillespie.

"The decision was made in consultation with Martyn Moxon, Andrew Gale, and Michael Vaughan, representing the board on cricketing matters, who all played a pivotal role in bringing in Kane. It is the right thing to do."