ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Luke Ronchi relishing the prospect of facing his former Australian team-mates

The Kiwi wicket-keeper lost his place in the Australian side to Brad Haddin and he made his mind to try his luck in New Zealand.

Luke Ronchi is looking forward to the prospect of facing his former Australia team-mates while playing for New Zealand in the most awaited ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 clash in Auckland on Saturday.

“It’s the same thing now – I’ve played with or against pretty much everyone in the Aussie team and some of them I’ve roomed with at the academy and things like that,” Ronchi was quoted in a report in Cricketcountry.com.

“I know them well and to be playing against them – it’s a funny feeling but the whole situation is pretty cool. For me especially to be given another chance to play international cricket, and now I get to come up against them in a World Cup match, it’s great,” he added.

Ronchi was born in New Zealand but mainly brought up in Australia. He has played four One-Day Internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) for Australia in 2008-09 before swapping his yellow jersey with black. The wicket-keeper played with and against most of the Australian players such as Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Marsh.

“The only one in their squad I haven’t really played with or against is Pat Cummins,” said Ronchi.

Ronchi, who switched to the country of his birth in 2012, played against Australia for the first time in a rain-marred match at Edgbaston during the 2013 Champions Trophy tournament in England.

“I didn’t know what to expect. When I was keeping there was Adam Voges and Marsh batting together and I made my debut for Western Australia with Vogesy,” quipped Ronchi.

The Kiwi wicket-keeper lost his place in the Australian side to Brad Haddin and he made his mind to try his luck in New Zealand. “I just thought to myself, ‘If I stay then I might regret not having tried. I thought if I go and it works out, then fantastic, and if not, well, at least I’ve given it a crack,” he explained.

“I didn’t want to retire and think I really should have tried that. In the end I just thought, ‘Why not?’ My wife was keen to have a crack at it, too. And I certainly can’t complain with where I am at the moment.”

Last month, Ronchi scored a brilliant 170 against Sri Lanka in Dunedin setting a 267 run-stand with Grant Elliott. It set a new all-time ODI record for any sixth-wicket partnership.

The wicket-keeper always felt like a New Zealander. “I see myself as a Kiwi. I’ve always felt that way anyways. I guess being born here and always for so long I always copped a bit of crap for being from here and stuff. Deep down I’ve always felt this way,” he said.

“But don’t get me wrong — when I was in Oz I still wanted to play for Australia,” the 33-year old later remarked.

Now with the Blackcaps, Ronchi hopes New Zealand will enjoy the unusual experience of playing in front of a jam-packed crowd at Eden Park on Saturday.

“Our last game against England in Wellington there was 30,000 and the noise there was awesome,” quipped Ronchi.

“In cricket in New Zealand you don’t get crowds like that on a regular basis … so to get 45,000 is going to be awesome. The noise they’ll make is going to be out of this world,” the wicket-keeper batsman added later.