'Brett Lee is faster than your dad's car': CSK's Devon Conway reveals hilarious phone call with former South Africa star
Conway, who represented the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022, recalled a funny phone call with one of his childhood idols.
The Chennai Super Kings had a tough 2022 season in the Indian Premier League, where the side finished a dismal ninth. The CSK were the second team to be eliminated from the race for playoffs, and also saw a back-and-forth in captaincy with MS Dhoni handing the leadership to Ravindra Jadeja, and the all-rounder giving it back to Dhoni mid-way through the season. However, there were a number of positives for the Super Kings as well – one of them being the consistent performances from their overseas opener Devon Conway.

The Kiwi star didn't play many games in the initial phase of the season, but then slammed three successive half-centuries after his return to the XI. Conway ended the season with 252 runs in 7 innings at an impressive strike rate of 145.66. The left-handed opener is expected to play an important role for the side in the next few seasons.
Interestingly, Conway was born in South Africa and began his cricketing career in the same country before switching to New Zealand later. In a video posted by the Super Kings on their official YouTube account, Conway recalled a heartwarming story of his childhood, when he got an opportunity to talk to his idol Neil McKenzie over a phone call.
“My father was a football coach, he used to coach a young football team. In that team, there was a guy by the name of Neil Mckenzie. He was probably the best player in that team. When he made his debut for the Proteas, the dad told me he knew him,” Conway recalled.
“It was funny because he said I have even got his number, I can even give him a call. I was like, 'wow! I can speak to Neil McKenzie!' I was 10 years old!”
Conway revealed the conversation between the two, and also added that he was fortunate enough to play alongside McKenzie in the future. The former South Africa batter had represented the side in 58 Tests and 64 ODIs.
“I remember the phone call. I said, 'Hi Neil, this is Devon. I just wanted to ask you, how fast Brett Lee is? He said, 'he's faster than your dad's car is!' He was just giving me an idea of how fast he bowls. I was fortunate to play alongside him 10 years later in Johannesburg. Just being able to talk to him on the phone call from such a young age, idolizing him for so many years, and having an opportunity to play alongside him has been a pretty cool memory for me,” Conway said.
