Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott leave the ground after an unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership of 267 against Sri Lanka last month. Photo / Getty
Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott leave the ground after an unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership of 267 against Sri Lanka last month. Photo / Getty
Sometimes he's brutal. Other times, he's brutally bad.
Welcome to the world of wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi - the reborn X-factor who has the chance to lead New Zealand to World Cup glory and dent Australia's title push in the process.
Ronchi has been both a coach's dream and worst nightmare for much of his career. Boasting the ability to tear rival attacks apart, Ronchi's batting talent was undeniable from an early age. But his inconsistency was a constant source of frustration - even annoyance - for some of his former coaches in Australia. "He was a beautiful, clean hitter of the ball," says Wayne Clark, who coached Ronchi for three years at Western Australia.
"There weren't too many shots he couldn't play. "If everything went right, he could win you a game off his own bat without any doubt at all. "That's what frustrated you so much. You knew he had the ability, but it just didn't all fall into place consistently. "It was just so few and far between that it became a bit annoying."
Ronchi's decade-long stint in Australian cricket featured dizzying highs, and dramatic lows. In 2007, Ronchi cracked the then-fastest domestic one-day century - a 56-ball ton against NSW at the WACA Ground.
Luke Ronchi scoring a ton against Sri Lanka earlier this season. Photo / Getty
A year later, he made his one-day and Twenty20 debuts for Australia. In one match against the West Indies, Ronchi thrashed 64 off just 28 balls. A bright future beckoned. A Test call-up was even on the cards.
But his form soon plummeted, and by the summer of 2008/09, he was dropped back to grade ranks by then-WA coach Tom Moody.
"I think we messed him around a little bit at WA, especially in one-day cricket," says long-time Warriors teammate and good friend Adam Voges. "We mixed a lot between him opening and playing in the middle order.
"He was never settled in one position. He was frustrating at times, but on his day he was awesome to watch and one of the cleanest strikers of the ball I've ever seen."
A few rollercoaster years would follow before Ronchi quit Australian cricket in 2012 in a bid to play for his country of birth - NZ. Ronchi headed across the Tasman with an unenviable record in tow - the most number of ducks (14) in Australian domestic one-day cricket.
His dream of playing for NZ appeared just that - a dream. But by May 2013 he made it a reality - albeit a rocky one.
Ronchi's second coming on the international scene was hanging by a thread after he opened his Kiwi account with ODI scores of 0, 2, 22, 7, 14, and 2.
But his move from opener to No 7 proved to be a masterstroke, with Ronchi averaging 51.2 in ODIs over the past four months. The highlight of that period came on January 23, when he cracked an unbeaten 170 off 99 balls against Sri Lanka in Dunedin.
Ronchi, who was born in NZ before moving to Perth when he was seven, will front up against Australia in Saturday's World Cup clash at Eden Park.
Although Brendon McCullum looms as the key wicket for Australia, Ronchi also poses a major threat in a match that will likely decide which nation tops Pool A.
Moody, a former Test all-rounder who coached Ronchi for three seasons at the Warriors, believes the 33-year-old can shine on the international scene for a few more years yet.
"If he's fortunate with his fitness, he's comfortably got another three years left in him, and possibly another World Cup," Moody says. "He can achieve a hell of a lot over that period of time. I'm sure NZ cricket will be keen to keep him involved. He's turned out to be a real impact player for them."
Voges and Ronchi made their Shield debuts together in December, 2002. They soon became close friends, and Voges saw first-hand the pain Ronchi felt through the numerous lowlights. "He had very high expectations of himself," Voges says.
"I remember when he got dropped from the Shield team, he was really disappointed and down at the time.
Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott leave the ground after an unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership of 267 against Sri Lanka last month. Photo / Getty
"His keeping was never an issue. His glovework is still one of the best that I've seen. "It was always to do with his batting, and his inconsistency. When he did miss out on getting a score, he was quite tough on himself."
Moody says he understands why Ronchi took a long time to flourish. "When you've got a free-spirited player like that, you're going to have peaks and troughs," Moody says. "It's no surprise he has become more consistent with maturity."
Clark agrees that maturity has played a significant role in Ronchi's revival as a cricket force.
"At the time he just went at it too hard. I don't think he realised his own capabilities," Clark says. "Now he realises he doesn't have to hit an eight, he can hit a four, if you understand what I'm saying. "He realises he doesn't have to go hard. He can just use his natural timing and ability.
"He's a lot more compact now. He knows his game a lot better."
Australia will be hoping the Ronchi of old - the man with the record amount of ducks - will be the one that fronts up this Saturday.
