Luke Ronchi sets his eyes on mentoring his successor in the New Zealand squad

Former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi will be seen in a new role as he aims to start his coaching career this weekend. Ronchi announced his retirement from cricket last month and has now decided to groom and mentor his wicketkeeping successor in the New Zealand team.

Ronchi will also be participating in the NatWest T20 Blast which is scheduled to kick off on Saturday and stretch till the month of September. He is among the 15 current or former New Zealand internationals who have been signed by the teams in England taking part in the high-intensity T20 league.

Ronchi will don the jersey of Leicestershire while his mates Grant Elliott, Colin de Grandhomme and Jeetan Patel will play for Wellington. Ronchi took the decision of hanging up his boots at the age of 36, which he has been planning since January 2017.

What Ronchi had to say:

“I played cricket for so long and had so many guys help out with my career and I think I’m in a position to do the same thing. There aren’t too many wicketkeeping coaches around. To try and give back in that sense, and even help out during the summer with BJ [Watling, test wicketkeeper] and others. Just the knowledge I’ve gained from keeping for as long as I have, you’ve got to pass it on and help people get better.” said Ronchi.

Ronchi learnt a lot from Adam Gilchrist when he grew up in Perth. The two played cricket for Western Australia and Ronchi had the opportunity to learn from the very best.

After the likes of quality wicketkeeper-batsmen like Ian Smith, Adam Parore, Brendon McCullum and Luke Ronchi, the slot is open for anyone who can prove a point and fill in the boots in the national team. But there has been a significant lack of wicketkeeping coaches in the country in recent times.

Ronchi’s worked with Tom Blundell at Wellington and will work again with the26 year old this summer, happy to run around in the field and “do what he’s told” for the Firebirds in T20. “He’s been doing really well for Wellington and he’s a definite chance. There’s a few [contenders] and he’s definitely one of them.”

Ronchi is hopeful of continuing discussions with Cricket Wellington and New Zealand Cricket in order to land a role when he returns. But Ronchi now has a lot of cricketing action ahead of him in the form of T20 leagues in England and South Africa/Bangladesh.