Wellington Firebirds star Devon Conway will receive his first representative chance since becoming eligible to play for the BLACKCAPS in August this year.

The two-time domestic men’s Player of the Year has been selected in a 16-strong New Zealand A squad to face the West Indies and Pakistan in November and December.

The 29-year-old has dominated domestic cricket for the last two seasons – he notched over 500 runs in all three formats last summer, helping the Firebirds lift the Plunket Shield and the Dream11 Super Smash trophy.

Conway is joined in the squad by fellow Firebirds allrounder Rachin Ravindra and fast bowler Ben Sears, the latter also receiving his first call-up to the A setup.

Firebirds head coach Glenn Pocknall will also be involved, he will take the coaching reigns for the first three matches of the campaign against the West Indies.

BLACKCAPS coach Gary Stead said it was going to be a busy season for New Zealand’s elite cricketers.

“It’s been a year like no other and we’re very fortunate to be preparing for such an action-packed summer,” said Stead.

“The complexities of the international schedule, along with the size of the touring squads and the length of time they will spend in the country has enabled us to build a very strong A programme.

“The flip-side of this is that pressure will be put on our player pool this season and we need to be smart with how we use our resources, therefore we’ll likely add and subtract from this squad as we go along. 

Stead also highlighted his delight around Conway’s selection.

“It’s an exciting time for Devon who’s had to wait for his opportunity at this level after some outstanding form on the domestic scene.”

The New Zealand A side begin their campaign with a three-day match against West Indies on November 20.

The match will be the first of two red-ball games against the West Indies in Queenstown and forms the start of a five-game long-form sequence for the side, which will also face Pakistan A in two four-day games in December.

New Zealand A squad for games 1 & 2

Joe Carter (Northern Districts)

Dane Cleaver (wk) (Central Stags)

Devon Conway (Wellington Firebirds)

Henry Cooper (Northern Districts)

Jacob Duffy (Otago Volts)

Ken McClure (Canterbury)

Cole McConchie (c) (Canterbury)

Henry Nicholls (Canterbury)

Michael Rae (Otago Volts)

Rachin Ravindra (Wellington Firebirds)

Michael Rippon (Otago Volts)

Ben Sears (Wellington Firebirds)

Sean Solia (Auckland Aces)

Nathan Smith (Otago Volts)

Blair Tickner (Central Stags)

Will Young (Central Stags)

New Zealand A Schedule

Three-day v West Indies, Nov 20-22, Queenstown

Four-day v West Indies, Nov 26-29, Queenstown

Four-day v West Indies A, Dec 3-6, Mount Maunganui

Four-day v Pakistan A, Dec 10-13, Queenstown

Four-day v Pakistan A, Dec 17-20, Whangarei

Article added: Thursday 12 November 2020