New Zealand will walk into the Wellington Test match without the services of talisman Devon Conway after the batter failed to recover from a thumb injury.

With less than 24 hours to go for the start of the first Test match between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington, the announcement was made on Wednesday (Feb 28). Conway, who suffered the thumb issue during the T20I series, will likely make way for Will Young in the Playing XI while Henry Nicholls has been roped in as a replacement.

No Conway for the Wellington Test

"It's disappointing for Devon to be ruled out on the eve of an important match," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. "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."

think in hindsight, we probably got that wrong the way that the pitch did behave. We've certainly got Mitch Santner here as that option and we'll certainly consider him as well," Stead said.

The southpaw had very little chance of making the Playing XI as he was nursing the thumb issue having got injured during the second T20I in Auckland. This resulted in the player missing out on the third T20I while there was no fracture. However, as the Test match approached, there was no improvement in the injury sustained, raising question marks on the player's availability.