Devon Conway, who was earlier left out of New Zealand’s squad for the Tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa starting July 14, has received a late recall in place of injured Finn Allen. Allen picked up an injury while playing for San Francisco Unicorns in the Major League Cricket (MLC) and was ruled out of both the Tri-series and the playoff stages of the game.
Conway has been a regular in franchise cricket lately, though his last international appearance in the format came in the 2024 T20 World Cup. He had a fairly off-season for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. However, his returns with CSK’s sister franchise, Texas Super Kings (TSK) in the MLC were somewhat better, scoring 135 runs in four games, including a fifty.
However, Allen’s form in the league guarantees that New Zealand will miss him big time. The opening batter was on a rampage during the tournament, striking at 225, the highest among all players with at least 300 runs in the MLC. New Zealand’s newly-appointed head coach, Rob Walter, was ‘gutted’ seeing Allen miss out, and rightly so.
“We’re really gutted for Finn,” New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said. “I was looking forward to working with him and to see him continue his form from the MLC but unfortunately injuries happen. We’re lucky to be able to call on someone of Devon’s quality to replace Finn.”
New Zealand squad, barring the players still involved in the MLC, arrived in Zimbabwe on Thursday. As many as four Kiwi players from the tri-series squad were part of the MLC final, which ended just hours before the first game of the series, between MI New York and Washington Freedom, including Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, and Rachin Ravindra. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) also called in some backups to avoid any selection headaches.
“We knew there’d be a possibility that a handful of players could be involved in the MLC final, so we’re bringing in Mitch [Mitchell Hay], Jimmy [Jimmy Neesham] and Tim [Tim Robinson] as possible replacements.”
New Zealand will begin their campaign on Wednesday against South Africa. This will be Walter’s first assignment as the head coach of the side, which, interestingly, comes against his former side.
There are some familiar faces missing for New Zealand as well. Kane Williamson, who is with Middlesex this county season, has opted to stay in England. Lockie Ferguson is being bubble-wrapped by the NZC, and Ben Sears has been excluded with a side strain. Kyle Jamieson, meanwhile, stayed back in New Zealand to await the birth of his child.
New Zealand squad for the tri-series
Mitchell Santner (capt), Devon Conway, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchel, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Mitch Hay, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson
Tri-series Schedule:
14 July – Zimbabwe vs South Africa
16 July – New Zealand vs South Africa
18 July – Zimbabwe vs New Zealand
20 July – Zimbabwe vs South Africa
22 July – New Zealand vs South Africa
24 July – Zimbabwe vs New Zealand
26 July – Final
All games will be played at Harare Sports Club
