Injured Black Caps captain Kane Williamson is "desperate" to turn out for his country again and is "on the right track" to doing so, coach Gary Stead says.
Stead spoke to 1News Tuesday after his 15-man Test squad to play South Africa was announced earlier.
While there were some fresh faces and old names amongst the lineup, one key figure missing was Williamson who continues to recover from the elbow injury that has plagued him for almost two years.
Stead conceded Williamson's absence will be felt against the Proteas.
"I think any time that Kane Williamson isn't playing a Test match you're a little bit worried about it and this will be five Test matches in a row now," Stead told 1News.
"But Kane is definitely on the right track and he's a lot further on in terms of where he's been in his recovery than he has been previously.
"We just needed to make the call that for Kane and for New Zealand Cricket that in the long run this was the best thing.
"Obviously it's disappointing for Kane and he's desperate to play - especially Test cricket - but in many ways, I think him re-entering through the white ball game is probably better for his elbow in the long run as well."
Following the two-Test series against South Africa this month, the Black Caps are scheduled to play three T20s against Australia along with three ODIs and a T20 against the Netherlands through March and early April.
Stead said Williamson's absence will minimise the chance the injury will flare up again in the future with the side thinking ahead to this year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia along with a Test series in England.
"We're very hopeful that it will completely fix itself," he said.
"He's had it for about 14 or 15 months so it has been a lingering thing... we're at the stage of loading where you've got to be careful you don't overload or load too quickly.
"He's back hitting balls and hitting for 20 to 25 minutes but as you can imagine, when we go into a Test match we want him to bat for five or six hours so you put the risk of putting him back to ground zero again."
Stead added punters who think Williamson will head to Indian Premier League for a cricket return after his contract was retained for the upcoming season last week don't know the Black Caps skipper's values.
"Kane's played in a lot of pain for the last year putting New Zealand first," Stead said.
"For the World Test Championship final, he was injected the week before that and through the T20 World Cup.
"People who try and entertain the idea he is putting the IPL before New Zealand are completely wrong.
"We know he's desperate to play for New Zealand again and we can't wait to have him back but we just need to make sure the timing is right."
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