Kiwi opener will miss the opening Test after sustaining an injury in the T20 series
Conway ruled out of first Test, Nicholls called in
New Zealand opener Devon Conway has been ruled out of the opening Test against Australia starting at Wellington tomorrow due to the thumb injury he sustained while keeping wickets in the recent T20 series between the teams.
Conway has been replaced in the Black Caps squad by top-order batter Henry Nicholls who scored an unbeaten 200 in NZ’s most recent Test at Basin Reserve, against Sri Lanka last year.
Conway has been under an injury cloud since suffering the blow in the second over of last Friday’s T20 at Eden Park at Auckland with scans initially unable to detect any obvious fracture to his left thumb, but further examinations undertaken in Wellington yesterday revealed the full extent of the damage.
“It’s disappointing for Devon to be ruled out on the eve of an important match,” NZ coach Gary Stead said today.
“He’s a class player batting at the top of the order for us and I know he was really looking forward to this series.
“But it’s nice to have a player of Henry’s calibre to call on.
“He has plenty of Test experience and covers a number of positions in our batting order.”
Both teams conducted their final training sessions at indoor facilities today due to wet weather in Wellington, but the forecast for tomorrow’s sold-out opening day is for fine if windy conditions.
Qantas Tour of New Zealand
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February 29 – March 4: First Test, Wellington, 9am AEDT
March 8-12: Second Test, Christchurch, 9am AEDT
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
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.