Black Caps skipper admits his side have been frustrated by their lack of Test cricket this season
Four Tests don't make a summer: Williamson
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has expressed unease at the dearth of Test cricket for his high-flying Test team this summer.
A 2-0 series win over the West Indies kickstarted their home campaign and was followed by a tense 1-0 victory over England, courtesy of their dramatic drawn second Test in Christchurch.
That result lifts New Zealand past a beleaguered Australia into third place on the International Cricket Council's Test rankings, trailing only India and South Africa.
Yet most of the home summer program comprised limited-overs cricket, which Williamson hopes won't become a regular pattern.
"We've played four (Tests) this year, I think there is a little bit of frustration," he said.
"But it's a year where there hasn't been a lot.
"I think there's eight next year, and maybe 10 after that, so there is a lot coming up.
"The team love playing Test cricket. Four, guys weren't ecstatic with."
The Black Caps will be awarded a bonus US$200,000 cheque for pipping their trans-Tasman rivals and snagging third spot on the day the ICC's international season concluded.
Before this week, Australia sat third on the ICC's Test team rankings on 103 points, one ahead of the Kiwis, who remained on 102 points after keeping England at bay in the second and final Test at Hagley Oval.
But after second-ranked South Africa took the remaining seven wickets required for victory at The Wanderers, Australia dropped to fourth spot on 102 points and surrendered third to New Zealand by 0.063 of a point.
By trumping England, Williamson marked the overall summer a success.
They whitewashed the West Indies in all three formats before doing the same against Pakistan in the one-day international series but losing the Twenty20 series.
Only one of five matches were won in the trans-Tasman T20 tri-series while England pipped them in the ODI series.
"The way the test team performed in the whites was superb, in a number of different situations," Williamson said.
"As a Test team we are growing and improving but certainly there's still work to be done."
New Zealand won't play for six months, when they conduct a full tour away to Pakistan.
The top Black Caps will have little respite, however, with Williamson among a group whose IPL contracts begin this week.
English county contracts await others.