Ken Borland

The number of South Africans playing or coaching in New Zealand has been an interesting angle for critics of the local system to pursue in recent years, and former Highveld Lions batsman Devon Conway looks set to become the latest immigrant to don the Black Cap.

Conway has transformed himself since his move to New Zealand in 2017, from a workaday batsman who just could not nail down a regular place in South African franchise cricket, to a prolific run-scorer for Wellington.

And according to former Titans and current Otago coach Rob Walter, another former South African who moved to New Zealand, the dramatic change in Conway’s fortunes is because he now gets to routinely test himself at the top level of domestic cricket.

Born in Johannesburg and educated at St John’s College, Conway played for Gauteng Schools for three years from 2007. He made his first-class debut for Gauteng aged just 17 years old. Clearly he was considered a top-class talent.

The following season he averaged 59 for Gauteng, but made a move to Pietermaritzburg for the 2010/11 season. He was quickly moved into the Dolphins franchise team, but in nine games only scored two half-centuries and averaged just 21.28.

He was back in Johannesburg for the 2012/13 season and became a prolific run-scorer for the Gauteng Strikers side – averaging 53.57 as he scored 12 centuries in 52 matches.

But he had to wait until February 2014 to be promoted to the Highveld Lions team. He was given five matches that season, but only averaged 22.85 with a highest score of 38 in 10 innings.

He could only score 54 runs in five innings in 2014/15 and his appearances were sporadic thereafter. When he emigrated, Conway had made 12 appearances in all for the Highveld Lions, averaging just 21.29 with only one half-century.

It seemed he was one of those cricketers who were brilliant at the level below but just couldn’t make the step up when given decent opportunity in franchise cricket.

But it has been all change since he moved to Wellington.

Conway was the leading run-scorer in both the first-class and T20 competitions in 2018/19 and was named New Zealand’s men’s domestic player of the year.

Last season he fared even better, being the leading run-scorer in all three formats. His spectacular exploits included an epic 327 not out against Canterbury, just the ninth triple-century in NZ history, and a 49-ball century in the Super Smash.

So how did he go from being a struggling journeyman in South Africa to a star who New Zealand can’t wait to rush into their national team?

“He’s played unbelievably well and has ridiculous stats in all three formats. He’s unstoppable at the moment, he’s made a double-hundred and hundreds against us, so even though I didn’t see much of him in South Africa, I’ve seen enough of him now!

“The difference is he’s found his game a bit and he got regular opportunity. Now he’s playing consistently, week in, week out, every game for Wellington. It’s what some guys just need and I hope to see him do as well at the next level,” Walter, who left the Titans in 2016 after winning four trophies in three seasons, told kenborland.com

If New Zealand do go to Bangladesh in August then Conway, who will be 29, looks certain to go with them, having been cleared to play for his adopted country by the ICC last week. He will join fellow South African-born cricketer Neil Wagner, the left-arm fast bowler who has won the hearts of his new country with his determined displays. Other Saffer emigrants to play for New Zealand have been Grant Elliott and current Tuks coach Kruger van Wyk.

Conway has already been part of Black Caps training squads but will be competing with the likes of Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor for a place in the NZ batting line-up.

But Wellington coach Glenn Pocknall said he would certainly co-sign Conway’s selection.

“He’s consistently out-performed all the players he’s competing with for the next level, and in some cases he’s out-performed guys who are incumbents in the Black Caps team. It’s pretty hard to ignore his sheer weight of runs.

“He’s pretty experienced for a guy who’s 28; he’s played 100 first-class games in New Zealand and South Africa. He’s played a heap of cricket and he’s such a cool customer regardless of the scenario.

“We played a final the other day and he produced again. He consistently steps up in those big matches and scores runs against very good bowlers. Going into an international set-up he wouldn’t be changing anything, he’d take it all in his stride and perform really well,” Pocknall told the stuff.co.nz website.

Sharks coach Gary Gold said he hoped his team’s courageous effort against the Lions in Johannesburg at the weekend would give them some respite from their critics.

Although the Sharks went down 23-21 to the Lions to suffer their fifth defeat in nine matches, they pushed the in-form home side all the way and, had flyhalf Fred Zeilinga succeeded with an angled, long-range penalty after the hooter, they would have claimed a morale-boosting victory.

“Even our biggest critics want to know that there is some fight in this team and, after the week we’ve had, the guys really put their hands up, stuck in it for the full duration and were in a position to win it at the end. They showed huge character to keep out wave after wave of attack on our own line and it showed that we’re not just going to roll over and think our season is over,” Gold said.

On top of all the disruptions in the last week, the Sharks then had to contend with the late withdrawal of eighthman Ryan Kankowski with a knee injury and yet another yellow card, centre Andre Esterhuizen being sent to the sin bin for a late tackle, which Gold felt was a contentious call.

“The yellow card was unbelievably frustrating and the wrong call. Every decision should be taken on its own merits and I’m still wondering if the tackle was even late, so it definitely shouldn’t have been a yellow card. The sanction for a late tackle is a penalty and there was no malice involved, it wasn’t around the neck or anything,” Gold fumed.

The key period of the game was the 10 minutes either side of half-time when the Lions scored three times to turn a 14-6 deficit into a 25-14 lead, and Gold was at a loss to explain how it happened.

“We’ll have to have a look at that, we let it slip a bit there. We took a knock in confidence with that try just before halftime, but we had a constructive chat in the break, the talk was all positive and intelligent,” Gold said.

“But look at where we are in the competition, we’re just over halfway and we’re just four points behind the conference leaders, and I’m excited that this bunch of players can still get things right. The South African pool is very tight and just four points separates the top four teams.”

With several second-string choices playing their guts out against the Lions, it will be interesting to see who Gold recalls from the contingent of Springbok players that were left out, because this weekend’s game is against the conference-leading Bulls in Durban.

All the critics are going to town on Russell Domingo following yet another Proteas failure at a world cup, but the coach himself is defiant that he should not be drummed out of his position at the helm of South Africa’s cricket team.

“I wouldn’t say our form has been bad for 18 months, it’s just the last four or five months, since the India Tests. The ODIs against India were good and the ODIs and T20s against England were good.

“We just did not play the big moments well enough. But my opinion is that our preparation was outstanding, spot on, I can assure you everyone worked extremely hard, we were meticulous in our planning and strategising. It’s part of my job, absolutely, to try and make it happen, to make it all come together, and my impression is that the team does buy into my approach.

“Of course I want to continue in my job and I will just work hard and try and get the best out of the players. I have a good relationship with them and in my opinion our management team is as good as anything in the world,” Domingo said.

South Africa’s premature exit at the ICC World T20 is now the subject of a Cricket South Africa review and CEO Haroon Lorgat, who has previously been a solid backer of Domingo, stopped short of giving him unqualified support. Six months ago, Domingo received a contract extension through to the end of April next year from CSA.

Whether CSA will be satisfied with Domingo eking out results until then remains to be seen, but the man in the firing line does not feel he should go.

“The margins in international cricket are very small and there’s just a tiny difference in making the semi-finals or not. Look at India getting out of jail against Bangladesh. There will always be questions after you fall out of an event like that, but small things just didn’t go for us,” Domingo said.

While some critics are warning that Cricket South Africa’s new increased “targets” for players of colour – and specifically Black Africans – will curdle the milk of domestic cricket, Unlimited Titans coach Rob Walter says the new quotas won’t place him under extra pressure when it comes to selection in the season ahead.

Franchises will now be required to field at least five players of colour in all competitions, two of whom must be Black Africans, an increase of one for 2014/15.

The Titans have only contracted three Black Africans – pacemen Junior Dala and Ethy Mbhalati and wicketkeeper/batsman Mangaliso Mosehle – for next season, alongside six other players of colour – Qaasim Adams, Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Eden Links, Rowan Richards and Tabraiz Shamsi.

“We have quality depth in all positions and we’re not sitting around thinking we’re going to be under pressure because of the new requirements. In fact we have to find a way of playing all these guys. A lot of our players of colour are actually pushing for places in the national side and they’re all there entirely on merit,” Walter said at the weekend during the launch of the new IXU brand of cricket equipment, for which he is an ambassador.

While there will obviously be more pressure on Mosehle, Mbhalati and Dala to perform, Walter said he thinks the added expectation will bring out the best in them.

“I have massive faith in Mangi. He’s had two stand-out 50-over campaigns and I’ve seen him make hundreds. In four-day cricket, he fell short last season, but I absolutely believe that he can score runs at that level.

“The pressure might actually be good for him, he’s occupying a hugely important position in four-day cricket. That number six/seven position has been key to many of the Proteas’ successes in recent years.

“Junior Dala has worked unbelievably hard in the off season after not having the best start to his Titans’ career, but we saw flashes of what he can do. He can bowl quickly and he’s clearly got something. Ethy was always going to be around anyway for another season, but having Junior in the squad has pushed him and he’s been working very hard,” Walter said.

With David Wiese, Marchant de Lange and Richards also being key bowlers, and JP de Villiers and Vincent Moore in reserve, Walter is confident the Titans have the attack to win trophies next season, but he is hoping his senior batsmen dish up many more runs than in 2013/14.

“I think Rowan is going to do great things, he has pace and he’s a left-hander, it was just sad that he was injured last season; Marchant is doing nicely and he delivered some real heat when he played at the end of last season; and David was unbelievable with the new ball and showed real skill. So all of a sudden the seam attack looks very good, plus JP has come a long way and Vince Moore bowled particularly well in the four games he played.

“But first and foremost what we need to improve is the performances of our senior players. We’ve added Dean Elgar, who will be key as another senior player, but the guys already there – Davids, Behardien, Albie Morkel, Kuhn – they’ve been performing year in, year out and I’ll be looking to them to really deliver,” Walter said.

Apart from those established batsmen, there is real talent waiting in the wings in Graeme van Buuren, Cobus Pienaar, Adams, Theunis de Bruyn and Ernest Kemm, and that meant there was cover available should there be injuries, national call-ups or loss of form.

“The great thing is that if we lose a player, it’s not the end of the world. The young guys have been performing, showing no fear and just revelling in the opportunity to play. Graeme was a standout batsman when it came to playing under pressure and that’s huge, a really great thing. Theunis showed in his first outing that he’s ready for franchise cricket and Ernest made a fifty in his second game. So depth is not something I’m worried about,” Walter said.

The Titans started training for the new season on May 1 and have been working hard on improving their skills.

“We fell short on our ability to deliver our skills so we started training earlier and have been doing that every day,” Walter said.

And the Titans will start playing competitive cricket as early as August, with the eKasi Challenge against the Highveld Lions, two three-day practice games and the Global Softech Sixes and Northerns Bash.

Titans contracted squad 2014/15: Qaasim Adams, Farhaan Behardien, Junior Dala, Henry Davids, Marchant de Lange, JP de Villiers, Heino Kuhn, Eden Links, Ethy Mbhalati, Albie Morkel, Mangaliso Mosehle, Cobus Pienaar, Rowan Richards, Tabraiz Shamsi, Graeme van Buuren (rookie contract), Roelof van der Merwe, Shaun von Berg, David Wiese, Jacques Rudolph (One-Day Cup only). CSA-contracted – Dean Elgar, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Morne Morkel.