Sean Colin Williams (born 26 September 1986) is a Zimbabwean

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who is a former captain of the national team in

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

. He plays Tests and One Day Internationals, and formerly T20Is, primarily as a batting all-rounder. In September 2019,

Zimbabwe Cricket Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

named him as Zimbabwe's captain, after

Hamilton Masakadza Hamilton Masakadza (born 9 August 1983) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for Zimbabwe. He captained the national team during 2016 ICC World T20, but was relieved of his duties following an indifferent team pe ...

retired from international cricket. Later the same month, Williams captained Zimbabwe for the first time, in the opening

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) match of the

2019–20 Singapore Tri-Nation Series The 2019–20 Singapore Tri-Nation Series was a cricket tournament that was held from 27 September to 3 October 2019 in Singapore. It was a tri-nation series featuring Singapore, Nepal and Zimbabwe, with all the matches played as Twenty20 Interna ...

, against

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. He is the current holder of the longest international career record in men's cricket (20 years and 58 days).

Under-19s career

In the Under-19 World Cup in 2004 he was the pick of Zimbabwe's batsmen with 157 runs at 31.40, as well as five wickets. He led the Under-19 side in the World Cup in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in February 2006, the highlight being a win over England.

Domestic and T20 career

In first-class cricket, Williams plays for

Matabeleland Tuskers The Matabeleland Tuskers is one of five Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in the Bulawayo Metropolitan and Matabeleland North area. They play their home matches at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. They were ...

. He made his highest domestic score for

Westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

against Centrals in 2006–07, when he top-scored in both innings with 76 and 129 in a 77-run victory. In October 2018, he was named in

Tshwane Spartans Tshwane Spartans were a city-based franchise team of the South African Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team was based at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Tshwane Spartans played in the first two editions of the MLS in ...

' squad for the

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition is all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a book pr ...

of the

Mzansi Super League The Mzansi Super League (MSL) was a Twenty20 cricket (T20) franchise league held in South Africa. The competition was established in 2018 by Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a replacement for the failed T20 Global League, but only two editions wer ...

T20 tournament. In December 2020, he was selected to play for the Tuskers in the

2020–21 Logan Cup The 2020–21 Logan Cup was the 27th edition of the Logan Cup, a first-class cricket competition in Zimbabwe, which started on 9 December 2020. After originally scheduled to start on 3 December 2020, the tournament was moved back a week to allow ...

. He was also named in

Durdanto Dhaka The Dhaka Capitals is a professional franchise cricket team that plays in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). They represent Dhaka Division. The team plays their home matches at the SBNCS. Dhaka is one of the most successful BPL franchises, h ...

's squad in

2024 Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League 2024, also known as BPL Season 10, was the tenth season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a top-level professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh. The league is organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board ...

International career

He was expected to be called up at the time of the players' strike in April 2004. Almost a year later, and with just one first-class match, he was drafted into the Zimbabwe squad to tour

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He turned down a central contract the following month, opting to look for a more settled career overseas, although he again changed his mind, returning to play for Zimbabwe three months later. Dogged by injuries, the on-off farrago resurfaced in 2008 when he again quit for a contract in South Africa, only to return weeks later. He scored 178 for a Zimbabwe XI against Ireland in the

ICC Intercontinental Cup The ICC Intercontinental Cup was a first-class cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of its cricket development programme. It was designed to allow List of International Cricket Council members, Associ ...

in 2010–11. He was ruled out of the Cricket World Cup 2011 due to a fractured thumb. In 2013, in second Test at

Roseau Roseau (Dominican Creole French, Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George Parish, Dominica, Saint George Pa ...

, he made his Test debut against

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, scoring 31 and 6. In September 2013, he made himself unavailable for the first Test against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

because of the payments issue and was satisfied with an offer made to him and was committed to the country in future. On 19 February 2015, he scored an unbeaten 76 runs in the

Cricket World Cup The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...

against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. When he came to the crease, Zimbabwe was in deep trouble on 177/5. But finally he guided the team to victory with 76 runs off 65 balls with 7 fours and one six. He scored his first Test century in his third Test. Playing against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

in July 2016, he batted at number eight in the second innings and scored 119 off 148 balls. His first century was the fastest ever by any Zimbabwean in Test Cricket. In April 2019, in the ODI series against the United Arab Emirates, Williams scored the fastest century for a Zimbabwe batsman in an ODI match, doing so from 75 balls. In January 2020 Williams played his first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

series as Zimbabwe Captain in a two match home series against

. He made his second Test century in the second Test match, making 107 before being bowled by Dhananjaya De Silva in a drawn match, Zimbabwe's first home draw since 2017. Sri Lanka won the series 1-0. In June 2023, Williams scored Zimbabwe's fastest ever ODI century, a record which was broken only two days later by

Sikandar Raza Sikandar Raza Butt (; born 24 April 1986) is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer. He is an all-rounder, who bats right-handed and bowls right arm off-spin. He made his international debut for Zimbabwe in May 2013 and is the fir ...

. In the same World Cup Qualifier tournament, Williams went on to score 174 off 101 balls against

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

to help Zimbabwe reach its highest ever ODI total of 408. In that match, USA were all-out for 104 , and Zimbabwe won the match by 304 runs, registering the second biggest win in all men's ODIs. On 12 May 2024, he announced his retirement from

s (T20Is). Williams made his best Test match score to date in the first of a two-match series against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in December 2024, compiling 154 from 174 balls including 10 fours and three sixes.

Personal life

He attended

Falcon College Falcon College (or simply Falcon) is an independent boarding school for boys and girls aged 12–18 in the southern Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe. It was founded in 1954 near Essexvale, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Esigodini, Zimba ...

in Esigodini, Zimbabwe and

Petra High School Petra High School (or Petra) is an independent, co-educational, school in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Petra was founded in 1993. Petra High School is a member of the Association of Trust Schools (ATS) and the Headmistress is a member of the Conference ...

in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. His father is Collin Williams, a former first-class cricketer and a national field hockey coach, and his brother Matthew Williams has played first-class cricket in Zimbabwe for

. His mother

Patricia McKillop Patricia ("Pat") Jean McKillop, ''née'' Fraser, and now Buckle also simply known as Pat McKillop (born July 15, 1956) is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summ ...

, was a field hockey player, who was a member of the Zimbabwe national team that won the gold medal at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

His step brother,

Michael McKillop Michael Gerard McKillop (born 27 January 1990 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland) is an Irish middle distance runner. He competes in the T37 disability sport classification, as he has a mild form of cerebral palsy. He won the 800m title at the ...

is also a first-class cricketer and a field hockey player who played for

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

and also served as the captain of the

Zimbabwe men's national field hockey team The Zimbabwe men's national field hockey team is the team that represents Zimbabwe in the sport of field hockey. Field hockey has the second biggest player base in the country after football. Currently, Zimbabwe has four pitches, two in Bulawayo ...

. He married Chantelle Dexter in Bulawayo in April 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Sean 1986 births Living people Cricketers from Bulawayo Alumni of Falcon College Zimbabwean cricketers Zimbabwe Test cricketers Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Zimbabwe Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Zimbabwean sportsmen Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Matabeleland cricketers Matabeleland Tuskers cricketers Mid West Rhinos cricketers Brothers Union cricketers Tshwane Spartans cricketers Expatriate cricketers in South Africa Westerns (Zimbabwe) cricketers White Zimbabwean sportspeople Zimbabwean people of Welsh descent Zimbabwean people of British descent Zimbabwe Select XI cricketers