Kane Williamson played 110 Tests, 175 ODIs and 93 T20Is for New Zealand.
Williamson has termed the similar careers and years of competition among them as a "quite unique" experience. Williamson retired from international cricket earlier this year after an illustrious 16-year-long career.
Williamson ended up as New Zealand's highest run-scorer with 19,346 runs, including 9,515 in Tests. Virat Kohli has also retired from Test cricket in 2025 with 9,230 runs, whereas Steve Smith (11,003) and Joe Root (14,278) continue to play the longest format.
Williamson admits that he did not place too much significance on the term, even though it was raised quite often throughout their careers. However, in hindsight, he believes that the fact that they have been able to belong to a generation of four other great batsmen is rather unique.
“I never thought anything about it, like... as in you'd hear it often because it would get sort of put in front of you, but like in some ways, now finishing it is unique. Not numbers, but to have quite parallel careers and actually get to know the other fellas, and everybody does it differently, representing their different sort of respective countries. I sort of look back on it, not the tag and pride or anything, but just that there was a moment in time where we competed against each other for so long, played with Rooty (Joe Root) at Yorkshire, Virat and I from under-19s, and Smudge… It's just kind of quite unique,” Williamson said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.
Late great New Zealand captain Martin Crowe had coined the term ‘Fab Four’ in 2014, identifying Kohli, Smith, Root, and Williamson as four young batters who had the potential to shape the future of international cricket.
Williamson stated that he had devoted a great deal of time to Kohli and Root, whereas his dealings with Smith had been relatively few. He further noted that each of them possessed a distinct personality and a different approach to the game.
“I mean, largely they're all quite different. Kind of spent quite a bit of time with Virat and Rooty, a little bit with Smudge over the years, but yeah, more so some than others,” he said.
Williamson added that he admired the manner in which all three went about their cricket and said that throughout his career his attention stayed on his duties to the team rather than on comparisons between individuals.
“They're all different characters, but I just, I loved watching them and how they went about it. Admired the way that they did it. I would personally just always come back to your job and the team,” he said.
(ANI inputs)