UNITED KINGDOM: New Zealand cricketer Devon Conway recently made his test debut on Lords Cricket Ground against England. In his debut match, the opening batsman scored a double century and displayed an innings of sheer class. Conway also became the first opening batsman to score a double century in a debut test match. By achieving this feat, he also broke the 125 year old record of Ranjitsinhji who held the record for the highest score by a debutant in England for 125 years.
Conway is currently enjoying his stint with the New Zealand cricket team. However, his path to represent New Zealand was not easy. He had to struggle a lot in his cricketing journey to achieve a place in the national team’s squad. While he scored heavily at the provincial level he struggled to make an impression in his sporadic appearances in top-tier franchise cricket.
Journey from South Africa to the New Zealand Cricket Team
Conway was born on 8 July 1991 in Johannesburg, Transvaal. Conway wanted to play for New Zealand under the Koplak deal. Kolpak deal in Cricket has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for some cricketers can’t find a place in an international team. According to the deal, players from other countries can play for any EU country. The deal is an agreement established at the European Court of Justice regarding freedom of movement of workers who are part of the European Union (EU), has signed a treaty with the EU, or lawfully works within an EU country.
Since, Conway was born in South Africa, he became eligible most last year to represent New Zealand. He is an attacking opening batsman and a very efficient wicketkeeper for the New Zealand team. He made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in March 2021. Later, he went on to make his T-20 International debut on April 1 against Bangladesh.
In 2017, Conway arrived in the capital city, Wellington where he joined Victoria University Cricket Club as a player and a coach. Talking about the city he said, “In just four days he fell in love with Wellington.”
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In a recent interview, Conway talked about the hardships he had to face in order to make his cricketing career.
“I sold my property, car and everything that we couldn’t bring over, because I wanted to close that chapter and start afresh,” he says. “If I hadn’t done that and my cricket didn’t feel all right after one season, I might have started thinking on the lines of ‘Maybe I can move back’. I didn’t want to,” he said.
Conway is now a star opening batsman for New Zealand in Test, ODI and T20 format. He will also play against India in June 16 for The World Test Championship trophy. Currently, New Zealand are playing against England and by scoring a double hundred in his test debut Conway has proved that he is going to stay here for a long time.
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