Fearless Devon Conway shows predictions do come true

SAM MORSHEAD AT LORD'S: Over the past seven months, Conway has introduced himself to international cricket with a crowing confidence, bullying opposition attacks in white-ball cricket and now, on debut, delivering a first Test century

Talking Points: Decent debuts, new-look Lord's and England's spin conundrum

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Readers of the Taunton CC magazine knew before the rest of us.

“At this stage of his career, I hesitate to put Devon Conway in such exalted company,” gushed the report on a clash with local rivals Taunton Deane in 2010 - the author having told a brief story about an encounter with Sachin Tendulkar. “But the feeling of helplessness as he maneuvered the ball around the ground was much the same.

“Either way, I do believe we were seeing an international cricketer of the future - and remember, you read it here first.”

Jon Kerslake, the writer in question and son of former Somerset wicketkeeper Roy, had it right.

Over the past seven months, Conway has introduced himself to international cricket with a crowing confidence, bullying opposition attacks in white-ball cricket and now, on debut, delivering a first Test century.

^{Devon Conway celebrates his century at Lord's}

His innings on Wednesday in the welcome warmth of St John’s Wood was much the same as that which Kerslake described 11 years earlier: intelligent, in control, and interminably frustrating for the opposition. It was just the sixth Test ton by a debutant at this famous ground. 

He made the most of a beautiful morning for batting to establish himself at the crease, negotiated patches of dynamic seam bowling from Ollie Robinson after lunch, and withstood a barrage of Mark Wood bouncers, including a stinging blow to his side. 

Even when Joe Root stuck three men on the legside boundary and instructed Wood to bowl at Conway’s head and hips four runs shy of his century, he continued to take on the hook. 

There is fearlessness running through the man, perhaps unsurprising given the decision he and his wife Kim made to sell their family home, uproot from South Africa and relocate to Wellington without so much as a job offer.

“We wanted to see if we could see ourselves there in the future with a family. That took some of the pressure away from my cricket,” he told The Cricketer. 

“We were just going over to enjoy our time there and ultimately that helped me play more freely.”

The move worked, Conway excelled with Wellington across formats, and since becoming a Black Cap in November he looks as though he belongs in the international arena. 

Three ODI appearances have brought 225 runs at 75, including a century, while he averages 59 in T20Is with a strike rate above 150. 

There is no guarantee that white-ball fireworks will light up the Test skyline in quite the same way, but the very best players make the switch appear seamless. And here, against a new-ball attack which between them boasts more than 1,100 Test wickets, Conway absolutely played the part.

^{Conway reached three figures on his New Zealand debut}

At 29 years old, he had only opened the batting in first-class cricket 19 times before this innings, most of which came a decade ago. His previous best return in the position was 75. 

On the face of it, then, it was a bold and inspired decision by New Zealand to partner him with Tom Latham. But Conway is no stranger to English conditions - his CV lists stints in club cricket in the south west, Derbyshire, Lancashire and East Anglia - and with the ball only swinging and seaming modestly he was able to call on those years of experience to help him counter Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson in the first half hour. 

His hundred, achieved with a tuck off his pads to the square leg boundary, came from 163 balls in 279 minutes and received a standing ovation from many of the 6,500 fans inside Lord’s. 

Comparisons with Kevin Pietersen might be circumstantial rather than technical - a South African native for whom the Proteas call never came; the transition from white ball to red; a breakout Test at Lord’s - but everything in his Blackcaps career to date suggests that, in Conway, New Zealand have found a gem.

And, as Jon Kerslake proved in the Taunton Deane club mag all those years ago, sometimes these predictions really do come true.