Blackcaps coach Gary Stead is backing Kane Williamson to return to his best sooner rather than later, as the New Zealand captain's struggles with the bat continue.
After an elbow injury ruled him out of the NZ home summer, Williamson has looked far from his best since returning to the side earlier this year.
Across all three forms of the game since his return, Williamson is yet to pass 50, getting out in the 40s three times in the process - against England, West Indies and Australia respectively.
In the wake of Thursday's 113-run defeat to Australia in Cairns, where Williamson made a pained 17 runs from 58 balls, the captain's struggles were on show - eventually out after missing a full toss from spinner Adam Zampa.
The form is an enormous contrast to Williamson's return pre-elbow injury at the start of 2021, where he scored three centuries in three tests against the West Indies and Pakistan, and converted two of them into double hundreds.
And sticking to the adage of form being temporary and class permanent, coach Stead knows Williamson has the ability and the drive to return to the heights of the world's best batters.
"It's always difficult when you've had such a prolific run scorer as Kane's been," Stead said.
"I think everyone remembers immediately pre his elbow injury, when he was in the richest vein of form some players have ever been in.
"Kane is one of the hardest workers I've ever seen on his game, he continues to be so.
"I'm sure for him, there's a big score around the corner."
Stead also knocked back suggestions Williamson could be training too hard in the hopes of ending his slump, as one of the game's most meticulous planners.
"That's the danger with every player," he continued. "But I think Kane's a very consistent trainer.
"Regardless of whether he is scoring runs at the moment or not, to me anyway, he appears to train the same way."
At 2-0 down with one to play, the Blackcaps have surrendered the Chappell-Hadlee trophy again, as New Zealand looks to end a losing streak in Australia dating back to 2009.
Stead, though, asserts that even with the trophy gone, there is still plenty to play for.
Importantly, Sunday's third and final ODI will still give the winner points in the race to qualify for next year's Cricket World Cup in India.
"It's still an international match against Australia. Every match we play is important.
"There's still qualifying points for the ODI World Cup that are coming up as well.
"There's no such thing, in my mind, as a dead rubber anyway."
