Conway closer to Black Caps promotion
Firebirds star must be rushed into Black Caps as soon as he’s eligible, says title-winning coach. Mark Geenty reports.
Title-winning Wellington Firebirds coach Glenn Pocknall says his star batsman Devon Conway is ready now for international cricket, and will comfortably fit into the Black Caps when he becomes eligible in September.
The 28-year-old South African’s dream run in New Zealand continued when he topped the charts with 543 runs at 67.87, strike rate 145, in the Firebirds’ charge to the men’s Twenty20 title. He started the domestic season with a bang, plundering 327 not out against Canterbury in the Plunket Shield in October.
Named men’s domestic player of last season, Conway will pad up against Northern Districts at the Basin Reserve tomorrow when the Ford Trophy resumes, as New Zealand prepare for the second T20 against India in Auckland.
Pending the rubber stamp from the International Cricket Council, Conway becomes available in September, three years since he and partner Kim moved from Johannesburg to settle in Wellington.
Pocknall said of the prolific left-hander: ‘‘They’ve just got to do what they can to fast track him into the [Black Caps] team. Whether that’s playing on an A tour first – I don’t know whether that conflicts with ICC regulations – but he’s shown that he’s certainly got the goods.’’
Conway previously signed a declaration of intent to qualify for New Zealand and, with Cricket Wellington’s assistance applied for an annual specific purpose work visa. Part of the ICC’s regulations state a qualifying player must spend 10 months a year in his adopted country.
August’s two-test tour of Bangladesh will come up too soon for Conway, then the ICC’s future tours programme has the Black Caps hosting Bangladesh and West Indies in three T20s apiece in October before the men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
Those matches present a royal chance for Conway to wear his first
black cap, but also gives the national selectors Gary Stead and Gavin Larsen more headaches in a jam-packed batting lineup.
Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Tim Seifert got first crack in the current T20 squad, with Tom Bruce in for games four and five and Glenn Phillips pushing hard from the fringes.
Pocknall said Conway would be unlucky to miss New Zealand’s T20 World Cup 15.
‘‘He’s consistently outperformed all the players he’s competing with for the next level, and in some cases he’s outperformed guys who are incumbents in the [Black Caps] team. It’s pretty hard to ignore his sheer weight of runs.
‘‘He’s pretty experienced for a guy who’s 28; he’s played 100 firstclass games in New Zealand and South Africa. He’s played a heap of cricket and he’s such a cool customer regardless of the scenario.
‘‘We played a final the other day and he produced again. He consistently steps up in those big matches and scores runs against very good bowlers. Going into an international set-up he wouldn’t be changing anything, he’d take it all in his stride and perform really well.’’
Surprisingly, Pocknall believed 50-over cricket was Conway’s best format even if his Ford Trophy average was his lowest of the three in the past two seasons.
In 2018-19 he averaged 37.36 in 12 matches as the Firebirds won that title, and in five trophy matches this summer has 186 runs at 37.2.
‘‘It’s a good combination of the long form and short form and gives him time to adjust to the conditions and get himself in. He’s also shown in T20 he can ramp it up quickly when he needs to.’’
Conway’s work ethic rivals Williamson’s – ‘‘he just loves batting in the nets’’ – and Pocknall said his steely focus on improvement set him apart.
‘‘If you look at his stats you think ‘how can he get better’ but he’s quite hard on himself and his performances and wants to get better statistically.
‘‘He’s not satisfied with what he’s got. Underneath there’s a huge amount of determination to get better. It’s a pretty cool trait to have when you’ve absolutely dominated domestic cricket.’’