New Zealand batsman Devon Conway has already started preparations for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India, which starts on June 18 at Southampton.
The southpaw is sprinkling kitty litter (granulated clay) on practice wickets to negotiate spin bowling better.
"Basically the idea is to get the ball to sort of spit out of the rough. It's a bit harder to play, but good practice. It's about finding a gameplan to combat that and just practice how you're going to play in the game. When it does roughen up and the ball does spit and turn a lot, it's all about being positive,” Conway explained to the New Zealand broadcaster Spark Sport.
The South African-born cricketer has represented New Zealand in three ODIs and 14 T20s till now. Although Conway is yet to debut in the longer version of the game, he has been named in the 20-member squad for the two-match Test series against hosts England next month.
Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are known to extract turn and bounce from responsive wickets, both home and away. Given their recent exploits in Test cricket, Conway believes that a batsman cannot survive only by defending balls.
“If you're going to look to just defend throughout, at some point there might be a ball that's going to have your number,” the 29-year-old added.
Featured photo: SANKA VIDANAGAMA / AFP
