Devon Conway spoke to James Wallace about his incredible journey, of leaving his home in South Africa at 26, and of being on the cusp of the biggest event in cricket at 32. This article first appeared in issue 71 of Wisden Cricket Monthly, a World Cup special.
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Devon Conway, beaming smile, hitch in the voice, has let his mind wander to the opening match of the big show: England and New Zealand, Thursday October 5, at the 130,000 capacity Narendra Modi Stadium. “So intense! It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been in that situation, you’ll always get caught off guard before the first ball has been bowled!”
The southpaw opener is recalling what could be a similar experience, giddily telling WCMabout the time he faced the opening delivery of this year’s IPL, for Chennai against Gujarat at the same venue. It’s enough to make your goosebumps go clammy.
“130,000 people screaming as Mohammed Shami ran into bowl that first ball. It was remarkable. Deafening. I got so far away from my process because of how intense the atmosphere was – talk about totally amped up – I just wanted to hit the first ball out of the ground!”
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For Conway the last few years have seen his hard work, sacrifice and life-sized gambles pay off. South-Africa born and raised, at 26 he left his native Gauteng and headed to Wellington, uprooting family life with his wife Kim, selling his house in the process. A scorching record in international white-ball cricket for New Zealand, a remarkable debut Test double ton at Lord’s and a lucrative IPL gig at the biggest franchise going aren’t bad returns. He’s proud of where he’s got to. But as befits the itinerant cricketer who’d done it the hard way, he dare not let up now.
Conway is a relaxed character, fully signed up to the ‘Kiwi and chill’ ethos, but a steeliness settles over him when he talks about his ambitions. “I think my story has got a lot to do with never giving up and always working hard, always believing that one day you can achieve something that you’ve set your mind to.
“I’ve certainly had to wait a lot longer than most cricketers to get where I’ve gotten so far. As far as I’m concerned, my journey has only just begun.”
That journey up to now has seen him traverse the globe, following opportunities and plugging away. He’s played for over 20 different teams across three different countries; spells in both franchise and provincial cricket in South Africa, and a six-season stretch on the sticky dogs of the English leagues – grafting hard in the Lancashire, West of England and Northern Premier Leagues, with a couple of stints in Somerset’s second XI thrown in for good measure. After arriving in Wellington his performances in club cricket saw him make the step up to first-class cricket and eventually into the international set-up.
There must’ve been times when he thought it might not work out. “I always believed. I always looked at failure as an opportunity to learn. Even when some club bowler got me out in England, I’d try to take the learnings. Keep chipping away to reach my goals. I genuinely cherish those memories, they all added up to get me to where I am now.”
Conway says he very much feels like a Kiwi and is “incredibly proud” to represent his adopted country. He also believes his game prospered as a result of the move. “In New Zealand I soon noticed that they keep everything as relaxed as possible. Everyone is just enjoying it. People weren’t necessarily enjoying their cricket in South Africa and there were times where I played with a fear of failure which didn’t get the best out of me.”
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Blown away, he says, by the “absolute chaos” when he watched the final of the 2019 tournament, Conway arrived into the New Zealand international set-up in 2020. The aftermath of Lord’s still lingered.
“It was an interesting time to come into that group. I remember there were quite a few guys that felt deflated. Normally when you go through an experience like that it could take a week or two for you to come around.” The magnitude and manner of the 2019 loss was a different beast entirely.
“Some of the guys were taking a lot longer to emotionally dissect how it all unfolded. Some had managed to park it and could have a laugh about it but others weren’t quite there.”
Is it being used as motivation this time around then? “It actually hasn’t been mentioned at all. I’m sure that some guys will probably use it to motivate themselves privately but it’s not been expressed by anyone verbally. I think that is a real strength of our group – we focus on the present, not the past and not really the future too much either.”
Still, a snatched moment of reverie for the big one looming on the horizon won’t do Conway – the world-class journeyman – any harm. After losing the finals of 2015 and 2019 another tilt at the trophy awaits for New Zealand. “As a young kid I always dreamed about being a part of it. It was the biggest stage in world cricket. It still is.”
This article first appeared in issue 71 of Wisden Cricket Monthly, a World Cup special.
