KANE Williamson has highlighted Yorkshire second XI coach Richard Dawson as a key figure in his return to bowling after having his action legalised by the International Cricket Council earlier this week.

The New Zealand batsman was prevented from bowling his off-spinners in any form of cricket in July, having been reported for a suspect action during a Test match in the West Indies.

He was initially tested in Loughborough and deemed to be illegal, although he has recently been retested in India and given the all-clear to resume whenever he is needed.

Williamson, a Yorkshire overseas player in 2013 and 2014, is currently captaining the Black Caps in a one-day series against Pakistan in the UAE.

His return to competitive bowling comes a little over two months from the start of the World Cup on home soil.

Williamson said: "It's a good feeling. There's been a lot of work put in correcting the action, so it's nice to pass the test.

"Saying that, there's a lot of work still to be done on improving my bowling so that I can be an option for the team.

"I worked with a few coaches. After the West Indies series, I went back to Yorkshire and worked with Richard Dawson.

"We went back to basics and did some drills etc. We were doing those on and off throughout the rest of the season.

"Coming back to New Zealand, I worked a lot with Paul Wiseman (former New Zealand and Durham off-spinner).

"There's been various stages of work, from going back to basics to bowling in the nets. Hopefully now I can get some overs in the games."

Williamson's last bowl competitively came in the LV= County Championship win over Middlesex at Scarborough in late July, where he bowled three overs for Yorkshire without taking a wicket.

Since then, not only has he worked hard on a new, more side-on action, he has also had to dampen rumours that he was going to switch to bowling left-arm spin instead.

Williamson, 24, said: "It's nice to be cleared to bowl and have that opportunity again because I always enjoyed it when I was able to. It's great that it's not illegal and I'm an option again.

"It's been one of those things that when it's taken away, you want it a bit more and when you have it, you might take it for granted.

"It's been a good initiative to go through and a good initiative by the ICC."