Title-winning Wellington Firebirds coach Glenn Pocknall says his star batsman Devon Conway is ready now for international cricket, and will comfortably fit into the Black Caps when he becomes eligible in September.

When England toured New Zealand in 2018, they were greeted by a rather strong batting line-up for a warm-up game before the Test series. The New Zealand XI had a top six comprising of an opulence of fancy names – Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Jeet Raval, Henry Nicholls and Colin de Grandhomme. An unfancied name in the top six was Tom Blundell, forever seen as a back-up player in the Black Caps line-up. After all, Blundell first came as a replacement for Luke Ronchi in the T20I team. His Test debut also came when the incumbent keeper, BJ Watling, was out injured.

CAP is a three-year professional development programme that aims to increase New Zealand’s pool of world-class coaches, capable of producing more World, Olympic and Paralympic Champions.

Till as recently as 18 months ago, Tom Blundell would spend his winter working a labour job for a cricket club mate who runs a construction company. Still on a domestic cricket contract – which in New Zealand only stretches across 7 months in the year – back then, the labouring was what Blundell did for the rest of the year to pay his mortgages and support his family. The efficacious Wellingtonian though did also use his new architectural skills to build a fence for his own home recently.

Tom Blundell has just two tests to his name and scored a century in one of them against West Indies in Wellington in December 2017.

Jeetan Patel will don Wellington Firebirds colours for the last time in a Twenty20 match on December 18.

Another one for Jeetan Patel who topped 50 wickets in an English season for the seventh time this year.

Devon Conway’s international cricket call-up appears a formality, after a triple century for Wellington against Canterbury.