New Zealand’s latest batting sensation Devon Conway has finally got his opportunity to represent Black Caps at the highest level as the South Africa-born batsman earned his maiden call-up to the national squad for the T20I series against West Indies on Tuesday (November 17).
New Zealand selectors have honored Conway’s hard work at the domestic scene with the national call-up on Tuesday by selecting him in the 13-man Black Caps T20I squad for the upcoming three-match series against the West Indies starting in Auckland on 27th of November 2020.
The South Africa-born cricketer Conway was offered a Black Caps contract in May after he became New Zealand eligible having moved to Wellington from Johannesburg with his wife Kim for a better life three years and three months ago.
The 29-year-old crack at international cricket comes on the back of his stunning domestic performance – being a top scorer in the Plunkett Shield, One-Day Trophy, and T20 Super Smash last season and even this season, he has been a prolific run-scorer also, hitting 157 for Wellington against Auckland in the Plunket Shield on 16th November 16 at Basin Reserve in Wellington.
Meanwhile, Conway is also part of the New Zealand A squad to face West Indies across two three-day games in Queenstown, but he will have to wait for a bit longer for Test selection.
After earning the maiden Black Caps call-up, Devon was over the 9th cloud, saying he is still rubbing his eyes. He further said it was a great honor for him and the surprise call took him a couple of seconds to digest it.
Conway was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz: “It’s a great honor… [NZ Selector Gavin Larsen] cornered me during the game and sat me down and said ‘congratulations, you’ve been selected in the T20 squad’. I didn’t really know what to say. It took me a couple of seconds to digest it, and we’re here today and it’s pretty exciting.”
However, he was ignored from the 13-member Test squad despite a stellar season in which he scored 410 first-class runs at 58.57, but the cricketer has insisted that he won't push things and just take one step at a time and enjoy his T20I opportunity, saying he will wait for his Test opportunities.
Conway signed off by saying, “Just getting an opportunity in the T20 squad is pretty special right now. We don’t want to push things too soon. I’ve still got to earn the right to get that test callup and if it maybe happens in the future, we’ll see how it goes.”
Here’s New Zealand Squads For West Indies Series:
T20I squad: Tim Southee (captain), Hamish Bennett, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Seifert (wicket-keeper), Ross Taylor (Doug Bracewell, Scott Kuggeleijn and Mark Chapman included for game three in place of Jamieson, Southee, and Taylor)
Test squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wicket-keeper), Will Young
