New Delhi, June 13 -- Kane Williamson put the New Zealand team first to the very end.

Despite being in mid-series in England, with one test down and two to come, Williamson retired from all international cricket with immediate effect on Friday.

The 35-year-old scored 0 and 18 against England in the test loss at Lord's last week and dropped himself out of the rest of the series which resumes next Wednesday at The Oval.

"I've thought about it for a while, but over the last few days it's become clear now is the right time," he said.

The all-time great bows out as New Zealand's leading run-scorer in tests, men's ODI World Cups and T20 World Cups and across all three formats since his debut in 2010.

He scored 19,346 runs including 48 cent...