Devon Conway hopeful for New Zealand debut in August after receiving special dispensation from ICC

The South Africa-born batsman topped the run charts in all three of New Zealand's domestic tournaments with in the 2019-20 campaign

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Wellington batsman Devon Conway has been granted special permission by the ICC to fast-track his eligibility for the New Zealand national side.

Conway, who began his cricketing career in his native South Africa with the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal Inland provincial sides, joined Wellington ahead of the 2017-18 campaign and finished top of the national run charts as the Firebirds claimed this year's Plunket Shield crown.

The 28-year-old was the only player in the country to cross the 500 run threshold across the six rounds of first-class matches completed before the season was cut short by the coronavirus outbreak, with his final tally of 701 at 87.62 kick-started by a team record 327 not out against Canterbury in October's opening fixture.

The batsman had also led the way in scoring during both the T20 and 50-over competitions across this domestic summer, again finishing each tournament as the only man with 500 or more runs, and he could now be in line for a Blackcaps debut as soon as August's planned Test tour of Bangladesh.

"It's a little bit of mixed feelings at the moment," Conway told media upon the announcement that he will be eligible for international honours as of August 28.

"I'm really happy to hear the news about my eligibility. But then again, with regards to what's happening at the moment throughout the world, it just puts in perspective as to you know, how things are going.

"I'm really chuffed with the way things went this past season, personally and obviously collectively as a team we're ecstatic. This past season has been a goal that we wanted to achieve all together as a unit, but you've just got to keep moving forward, keep training hard and hopefully reap the rewards in the future."

^{Conway's triple-century was just the second in Wellington history, following Michael Papps' 316 not out against Auckland in 2017}

Conway had expected to become eligible for New Zealand duty some time in September, however the ICC has now granted an Exceptional Circumstances dispensation to become eligible to play from the end of August and feature in Blackcaps or New Zealand A tour fixtures in the two weeks leading up to this date, proviging he re

If selected, the Johannesburg-born batter would join the likes of seamer Neil Wagner and gloveman BJ Watling among the setup's South African-born contingent, though Conway spent nine seasons in the South African domestic game before making his move to New Zealand.

Having progressed through the Gauteng youth system towards a first-class debut early in 2009, he struggled to cement a steady place in the country's top-tier franchise competitions. Through 21 outings for the Dolphins and later Lions sides, Conway registered just four half-centuries and a batting average of 21.29.

However, Conway has long been earmarked as a potential Blackcaps target, having been invited to join the national squad for a T20 training camp in Lincoln last October ahead of their five-match series with England, with coach Gary Stead at the time saying that "he looks like he could have the goods to play international cricket" when a suitable time came.

"I always kind of thought that I was going to be eligible from September at some point, but having an exact time is pretty awesome to know," Conway added.

"But, in saying that, it doesn't guarantee selection so it's still a matter of working really hard in this period and trying to get an opportunity to play in the future.

"I can't physically bat at the moment because all the centres are closed, so that's a bit of a setback, but [the early finish to the season] has allowed me the opportunity to do some fitness work up at the turf.

"You've got world-class batters from No.1 to No.6 in that Blackcaps team so, you know, I can't really pinpoint where I'd like to bat. Wherever the opportunity arises, I'd love to take it with both hands."

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