“Want To Give Him Every Chance”: Gary Stead On Conway’s Availability For Australia Test Series

Wellington [New Zealand] : New Zealand coach Gary Stead is looking to give Devon Conway “every chance” to be fit for their upcoming two-match Test series against Australia.

Conway sustained a blow to his left thumb while wicketkeeping from an Adam Milne delivery in the second over of the third T20I match against Australia, which clicked over 140 kmph.

He was forced to leave the field and Finn Allen took over the role behind the stumps. For the rest of the match, Conway didn’t come out to field or bat.

The left-handed batter has yet to hit a ball since picking up the injury. After the game, New Zealand Cricket confirmed that the x-ray ruled out a potential fracture.

Conway was absent from his team’s main training session at Basin Reserve on Tuesday and coach Gary Stead indicated that the opener’s availability would be decided after he goes for further scans.

“He’s had a bat in his hands a few times. It’s not comfortable at the moment, but we’re still investigating exactly what’s going on in the thumb. We’ve had a number of different specialists look at it. He’s going to get more scans later today and more expertise on it,” Stead said, according to cricket.com.au.

“We obviously want Devon to play, he’s a key person in our batting order and his record speaks for itself, so we want to give him every chance of being available,” he added.

The Kiwis will be looking to bounce back in the Test after suffering a whitewash in the three-match T20I series.

New Zealand Test squad: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc.