Broken thumb a blessing in disguise for Black Caps opener Conway

By Alex Powell

It might not have felt like it at the time, but a broken thumb ending his home summer was a blessing in disguise for Black Caps opener Devon Conway.

Conway, 32, hasn’t played any cricket since the end of February, after suffering an injury keeping wickets in a Twenty20 against Australia at Eden Park, when a delivery from Adam Milne struck him awkwardly.

As a result, Conway has undergone surgery, and has not played any cricket since, missing New Zealand’s test series defeat to Australia, and the entire Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings.

But as the Black Caps depart for the West Indies for their Twenty20 World Cup campaign next month, Conway is fully fit and ready to play again.

Since his debut in late 2020, Conway has been an ever-present fixture across all forms of the game for New Zealand.

Having had to wait until 28 to play international cricket after moving from South Africa, Conway has never taken a backwards step.

Over the past two years in particular, away from Black Caps duties, Conway has also played T20 cricket for Chennai in the IPL, as well as sister outfit Texas Super Kings in American Major League Cricket and the Southern Brave in England’s The Hundred competition.

And while missing games for any team is never on his agenda, Conway is grateful for having been able to spend time recuperating before the Black Caps’ attempt to end a 24-year wait for an international white-ball trophy.

“It was a little bit frustrating,” he admitted. “Having a decent knock under my belt and then getting injured.

“But then again, it was a forced opportunity to have a break. I took that with both hands, to have that break after playing a lot of cricket in 24 months.

“So I’m happy to have [had] that break and be back with the group.”

Of the Black Caps’ 15-man squad to travel to the Caribbean, Conway is the sole listed wicketkeeper, even if his only glovework comes in the shortest format.

However, while he’s spent time in India with Chennai during his recovery, Conway’s last taste of keeping in a match was his injury.

But while he assures he’s back at full fitness when leaving New Zealand, Conway has no doubts over his place as the Black Caps’ first-choice glovesman.

“That was unfortunately the first time I’ve actually been injured while keeping,” he explained. “It was a pretty tricky ball to negotiate when it happened.

“[But] that’s part of the job. I’m really fortunate to have that opportunity to take the gloves.”

While Conway burst onto the scene in 2020, including a double century on test debut against England at Lord’s in 2021, the last 12 months has hardly seen the elegant left-hander at his best.

Across all formats, international and domestic, Conway hasn’t passed 100 since last year’s Cricket World Cup opening victory over England, where he registered a career-best ODI knock of 152 not out.

Admittedly, his last knock before breaking his thumb was 63 off 46 balls against Bangladesh, but pickings were slim before that, with a run of eight matches without passing 50 in T20s.

Now with time off under his belt, though, Conway is happy to move on from any struggles.

“That’s natural, it doesn’t always go the right way for you,” he said. “The last time I had a hit was against [Australia], I scored 60 odd. I can take confidence from that last innings.

“It’s been a long time between drinks. Any scars that were perhaps there are long gone now.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission