Wellington Firebirds bastman Devon Conway has been included in his first BLACKCAPS squad, selected for the season opening KFC T20I series against the World Champion West Indies.
Conway is one of two new faces in the national T20 squad, alongsde Auckland's Kyle Jamieson, for the T20 series which starts at Eden Park on November 27.
The selection is just reward for Conway who 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 and regsitered 327 not out against Canterbruy in the Plunket Shield - Wellington's highest ever first-class knock.
Conway is one of four Firebirds selected in national squads this morning - he joins Hamish Bennett and Jimmy Neesham in the BLACKCAPS T20 squad, while Tom Blundell retains his place in the BLACKCAPS Test squad and will open in the first Test of the summer against the West Indies on December 3.
BLACKCAPS coach Gary Stead said it was truly exciting to be unveiling his first squads of the season.
“I think we’re all very aware and appreciative of how much work has gone in to make this home summer possible - in what is clearly unprecedented times,” he said.
“The season schedule is complex and for the first time we’re going to have a BLACKCAPS Test squad assembling on the same day we’re playing a T20 International in another city.
“We’ve got players at quite different stages with some having played almost a month of domestic cricket, some in managed isolation following the IPL and others battling injuries.
“Firstly, we have a challenging T20 series against an opposition full of stars with plenty of big game experience. The three-game series is over just four days so we’ll need to hit the ground running to build some momentum for the summer.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming Devon into our environment for the first time and I’m sure he’ll soak up the experience.
Fresh from the IPL - Jimmy Neesham is set to finish his managed isolation on Thursday November 26 and link up with the T20 squad that evening ahead of the opening match on the Friday night in Auckland.
The BLACKCAPS face the West Indies in three T20 internationals and two Test matches before shiftng their focus to the visit of Pakistan.
BLACKCAPS T20 SQUAD
Tim Southee (c)
Hamish Bennett
Devon Conway
Lockie Ferguson
Martin Guptill
Kyle Jamieson
Daryl Mitchell
Jimmy Neesham
Glenn Phillips
Mitchell Santner
Ish Sodhi
Tim Seifert (wk)
Ross Taylor
BLACKCAPS TEST SQUAD
Kane Williamson (c)
Tom Blundell
Trent Boult
Colin de Grandhomme
Kyle Jamieson
Tom Latham
Henry Nicholls
Ajaz Patel
Tim Southee
Ross Taylor
Neil Wagner
BJ Watling (wk)
Will Young
Article added: Tuesday 17 November 2020
