With the 6th edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) just months away, Guyana Amazon Warriors have done well to re-secure the service of opener Luke Ronchi.
Nicknamed “The Rock”, the 36 year-old Australia-born made a sudden impact last season immediately following his late arrival to the squad. Despite playing just four games for the Warriors after being drafted in for adopted Kiwi country-man and teammate Martin Guptill; the right-hander carved 172 runs at an average of 57.3 with two fifty plus scores including a best of 70.
The wicket-keeper/batsman racked up 14 fours and 9 sixes during his brief run but played a crucial role as his 70 helped knock the then defending champs Jamaica Tallawahs out of the tourney.
After retiring from international cricket in 2017, the former New Zealand player has since become a T20 gun for hire. Prior to his CPL run, Ronchi had an outstanding NatWest T20 blast where he represented Leicestershire with much success.
Following his CPL stint, the Aussie then applied his trade for the Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where his batting form got better. In December of 2017, the hard-hitting batsman lit up his home turf when he smoked 102 off 46 balls for his county Wellington in the New Zealand Super Smash T20 tournament.
After Ronchi was retained by the Warriors during last week’s CPL player draft in London, the opener’s immaculate form continued with a 31-ball 71 blitz, batting for Islamabad United in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) T20.
Although the Warriors have opted for more regional firepower this season, Ronchi who was snapped up for USD$30,000 will have to shoulder most of the batting responsibility along with Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik who returns to Warriors colors, Chadwick Walton and South African Cameron Delport.
As such, the Guyana-based franchise with their vast quota of young local talents along with a few Caribbean stars should lend ideal support to the few key international players in the side.
Guyana for the first time will be hosting three opening matches of the competition starting August 8; the three-time finalists will then head out on the road before returning to home turf for the back-end matches all set for the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors squad reads: Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Malik, Chadwick Walton, Cameron Delport, Rayad Emrit, Imran Tahir, Jason Mohammed, Luke Ronchi, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Shimron Hetmyer, Devendra Bishoo, Gajanand Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul, Saurabh Netravalkar and Akshaya Persaud. (Clifton Ross)
