Conway’s unbeaten half-century, chances of Test debut strong

New Zealand opener Devon Conway has strengthened his chances of making his Test debut against England next week by scoring an unbeaten half-century on the first day of New Zealand’s intra-skid practice match between Latham XI and Williamson XI at the Ages Bowl.

Captain Tom Latham and Conway added 106 for the opening wicket for Latham XI against bowling in the presence of Tim Southee, Jacob Duffy, Mitchell Sentner and Neil Wagner. Conway is competing with Tom Blundell and Will Young for the second opener spot. The left-handed batsman, who has proved his mettle in the shorter formats, said, “Batting with Latham at the top of the order was a great learning experience for him. Luckily we are both left-handed players, so I was able to complete some of the work they were doing. He is very experienced and knows his game well.

The 29-year-old batsman said, not only in today’s match, but also in training and discipline, in shot selection and the way Latham plays his game, there is a great chance to learn from it. It was exciting to be at the other end of the wicket with him and a good learning throughout the day. Kane Williamson was standing in the street watching me bat which was very intimidating. Then facing bowlers like Tim Southee was going to be tense. I did not get a chance to bat with Ross Taylor today, which was a bit unfortunate, but hopefully one day I will get this chance as well.