New skipper Kane Williamson has plans to stamp his leadership style on the Black Caps.

New Black Caps captain Kane Williamson is not exactly bowled over by the ICC's radical plan to revamp test cricket and give it supposed legitimacy in the changing landscape of the modern game.

Williamson is taking a short break in New Zealand following his commitments with the champion Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League T20 competition and before he heads to English county cricket for a short stint with Yorkshire.

Following that he will return to lead the New Zealand cricketers in tours to Zimbabwe in July, South Africa in August and India in October before the next domestic summer schedule kicks in.

He assumed the captaincy from Brendon McCullum for the recent World T20 in India and was subsequently confirmed as the new Black Caps leader in all three forms of the game.

It's a mantle that sits well with the 25-year-old who is on top of his game and ready to take on the added responsibility of steering the ship.

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He could be doing so in a changed test match environment, with ICC chief executive David Richardson recently unveiling a bold plan to revive the five-day format by introducing a two-tier world championship format that could kick in as soon as 2019.

"Unless we can give some meaning to bilateral series beyond just the rankings and a trophy at the end then interest in test cricket will continue to waver," Richardson told The Times newspaper. His belief is that the growth of domestic T20 leagues around the world, spearheaded by the rich IPL, enhance the need for a more legitimate test format.

But Williamson expressed only lukewarm support for a revamp of the five-day game.

"I haven't heard a huge amount about that," he told Fairfax Media in an interview on Saturday.

"Naturally as a board they're always looking to come up with ways that might continue to help the game grow. At the moment they're doing a pretty good job and I'm sure they'll come up with a number of other ways or ideas they might look to employ."

Not exactly an endorsement of change. Pressed whether there was merit in giving test cricket more meaning, Williamson again employed that renowned straight bat of his.

"I think test cricket has a huge amount of meaning as it is," Williamson said. "It's certainly the pinnacle of the game seen by any cricketer. There may be room to apply a format that is structured in a certain way. Time will tell whether that grows legs or not."

Williamson, though, was more engaged when it came to his permanent assumption of the Black Caps leadership. That clearly excites him more than any artificial tweaking of test cricket.

"It's certainly an honour to get asked to do the job," he reflected. "We know there are a lot of challenges ahead, there's so much cricket, teams are improving all around the world and it's an exciting time. There's a transition taking place after Brendon standing down, and a number of other guys that have retired the last couple of years, and the team takes a slightly different shape. But that's life and something we're all excited about."

It's an interesting transition for Williamson, too. He has cut his teeth as an international cricketer under McCullum's leadership and clearly many elements of his predecessor's aggressive approach to the game will carry over.

But the more reserved, less flamboyant Williamson is a vastly different personality from McCullum and he's determined to stamp his own mark on the leadership of the Black Caps.

"It's important, as Brendon would always say, that you're authentic to yourself," Williamson said.

"I feel fortunate to have played with Baz for a number of years, fantastic leader that he is, and to have been able to learn as much as I can from just being in the environment. I've learnt a lot and now there's a transition taking place.

"The team has shown improvement which reflects in the rankings, and certainly the challenge is to continue to improve. I think cricket in general is becoming a bigger sport, and that lifts the standard. There are challenges day in, day out, and the volume of cricket is also part of the challenge, and staying fit and fresh all comes into the equation.

"There's plenty coming up, one day at a time, and the guys are looking forward to the next tour which is Zimbabwe."

It's interesting to note Williamson's response, though, when you ask him if the Black Caps' next logical step is to start converting the near misses in the big tournaments to victories, and to roll some of the game's heavyweights in the test arena.

"That would be great but it's not the focus for us," he adds. "The reason we've improved in the last few years is we've just focused on what's in front of us. We've put a lot of work into improving the culture and the leadership structure, and that's helped on the field.

"I think it's important we look to take a similar approach as opposed to I guess trying harder, or wanting to win a huge amount more, or any of those things that may be counter-productive. It's very much staying relaxed and looking to control the things we can, improve in areas we know we can, and let those other things take care of themselves."

Refreshingly, Williamson talks repeatedly about the need to be "smart" as they head to places like Zimbabwe and South Africa for two tests apiece in coming months.

As much as McCullum's approach was to puff out his chest and go for the jugular, his more resolute successor appeals as a more cerebral leader.

He may need to be if he's to take these Black Caps to the next level.

And you know that's the territory he's aiming for, whether he cares to admit it or not.