Luke Ronchi appointed New Zealand batting coach

Ronchi has spent time working with the national team regularly - including during the 2019 World Cup campaign in England and Wales

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Former New Zealand wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi has been appointed as batting coach of the national team, replacing Peter Fulton who vacated the post in July.

The 39-year-old was capped 122 times in international cricket and played for both Australia and New Zealand. He has spent time working with the team regularly - including during the 2019 World Cup campaign in England and Wales.

Of his appointment, Ronchi said: "I’m absolutely pumped. I’ve really enjoyed being back with the team in recent seasons and it’s exciting to be given the opportunity full-time this summer.

“Getting the chance to continue working with our batsmen is a great honour and I’m looking forward to seeing how I can help improve their games and best prepare them to perform at the highest level.

“It’ll be great to sit down with Gary and the other coaches to begin planning for what will be a busy summer with four touring teams who will all bring different challenges.”

Ronchi finished his career with 16 First-Class centuries and 796 dismissals in all formats and since finishing his playing career with New Zealand in 2017, he has been involved with Cricket Wellington’s development programmes and was also a player-coach with Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.

_{Luke Ronchi was capped 122 times in international cricket}

Ross Taylor, New Zealand’s all-time leading run-scorer, said Ronchi had the right credentials to succeed in the role.

“It’s been great to have Luke back with the group in recent years and I’m personally really looking forward to working with him as batting coach.

“He’s obviously got great experience from playing and coaching around the world and I know he will bring plenty of his own ideas to the table.

“He’s got a calm demeanour and already possesses many strong relationships within the group.”

New Zealand Cricket's general manager of high performance cricket, Bryan Stronach added: “Luke’s got a very good cricket brain and is especially strong tactically.

“He has a positive mindset and is good at building relationships but he’s also not afraid to challenge people which is a really important aspect of coaching.

“The feedback we got from the players and team support staff at last year’s World Cup in particular was very positive and I know he’s looking forward to continuing his work with the team this summer."

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