As it says, if you work hard, you will achieve success. New Zealand’s newborn batting star Devon Conway’s story is the epitome of this example. He took the cricketing world by storm with a magnificent double hundred in his debut Test against England at the historic Lord’s.

Cut back to the Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 2017. Devon Conway, 26, brought up his maiden first-class double-century for Gauteng at the provincial level and roared in jubilation. It was the first in eight years of professional cricket for the left-hand batsman. That was the last innings Conway played as a South African domestic cricketer. That August, he left South Africa for his new home – New Zealand.

“[Before the Wanderers game] I was playing golf with my partner, Kim, when I said to her: ‘I don’t feel like my game is going anywhere here’ and said that I’d be interested in moving to New Zealand,” he says. “She said, ‘Let’s do it then.’ I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. I realised you’re only young once, so we should take the gamble. I don’t think it’s a decision we will never regret.” said Conway to ESPNcricinfo.

Sold car and property to start afresh in New Zealand – Devon Conway

Devon Conway has emerged as an impactful top-order batsman for New Zealand from being frustrated and in self-doubt. The southpaw arrived in Wellington in August 2017. He joined Victoria University Cricket Club in a dual capacity as player and coach. Within four days of landing in the country, he had found accommodation and had “fallen in love with Wellington”.

“I sold my property, car and everything that we couldn’t bring over, because I wanted to close that chapter and start afresh,” he says. “If I hadn’t done that and my cricket didn’t feel all right after one season, I might have started thinking on the lines of ‘Maybe I can move back’. I didn’t want to,” he added.

Devon Conway has certainly come a long way. From playing in the second level domestic set up in South Africa to domestic cricket in New Zealand to a double century at the home of cricket. To score a double century on debut at Lords is a huge achievement. The New Zealand batsman will certainly remember this innings for a really long time.