New Zealand opener Devon Conway had a dream start to his Test career as he slammed a historic double century on his Test debut on Day 2 of the first Test against England at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground. He broke and equalled several records en route to the milestone, including surpassing former India skipper Sourav Ganguly’s 25-year-old record of highest score by a Test debutant at Lord’s. Ganguly had scored a brilliant 131 in a Test match against England in 1996, which ended in a draw.
Devon Conway celebrates after scoring double century on Day two of the first Test against England. AFP
But who is Devon Conway?
The 29-year-old Conway, a stylish left-handed top-order batsman, was born in Johannesburg on 8 July, 1991.
Conway made his debut for Gauteng in March 2009 at a time when he was still a teenager batting at number three for St John’s College, the institution where he studied.
And it was in 2017 while playing his final domestic match in South Africa he scored a maiden first-class double ton for Gauteng at the iconic Wanderers Stadium.
However, despite being a prolific run-scorer at the provincial level, he failed to make further impressions in the limited opportunities in South Africa’s top-tier franchise cricket which then persuaded him to move to New Zealand later in 2017.
And in June 2018, Conway was awarded a contract with the Wellington team for the 2018-19 cricket season in New Zealand.
That move would in fact see him evolve as a cricketer and also witness a change in the southpaw’s fortunes.
He ended up as the highest-run getter in the Plunket Shield tournaments in 2018-19 and 2019-20, amassing 659 runs and 701 runs in the two seasons respectively.
He continued his stupendous form in the 2020-21 season, scoring 456 runs from nine innings. He was prolific in all three formats. He was the highest run-getter in the 2018-19 Super Smash T20 competition and the 2019-20 season as well. While he also finished as the top-run getter in The Ford Trophy in the 2019-20 season.
Conway showcased grit and resilience with an unbeaten knock of 327 off 352 balls in Wellington’s clash against Canterbury in October 2019. Conway came into bat at number three once again but later found his team struggling at 54-4 after they lost Tom Blundell. He, however, led the fightback, forging crucial partnerships with lower-order batsmen and punishing the bowlers. Wellington would go on to declare at 525-7 and later win the match by 44 runs.
It was then on 31 March, 2020 that the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave Conway the clearance to become eligible for New Zealand, beginning from 28 August that year.
He would then go onto make his international debut for the Kiwis in a T20 against West Indies in November 2020, as he scored 41 runs off 29 balls in that game. He’s had a blistering start to his international career. He’s so far scored 473 runs from 11 T20Is (four fifties) while also making his ODI debut against Bangladesh in March this year. In the three ODIs, he’s scored 225 runs at an average of 75 with one century and one fifty. And now he’s made a brilliant start to his Test career with a double century on debut that too away from home and at Lord’s.
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