This is John Mooney's third World Cup. In 2007 he soloed the ball in tribute to his pals back in Man O'War GAA club. In 2011 he smashed the winning runs against England.

So what's he got in store for us this year?

“I know I can score runs down here,” he told The Star this week. “I've been batting well for a while and I have real clarity in my role now.”

He also enjoys the responsibility that comes with being a senior player.

“I love it, I'm captain of the Leinster Lightning at the minute, and being able to work with the likes of (Andy) Balbirnie last summer, and I hope that I played a bit of a role in getting him selected for this team, because the work he did with Leinster Lightning coming back and scoring runs were invaluable to him.

“Working with lads like (Craig) Youngy who just want to learn is brilliant. He takes wickets and that's exactly what we need.”

Mooney's battles with depression were well-documented and he prefers not to talk about it.

“Yeah really looking forward to the World Cup. The hard trips are over if you ask me, this is the one we've all been looking forward to, and I know it's going to be great.”

He'll have plenty of family support, too, with his brother and fellow World Cup 07 squad member Paul now living in Christchurch.

“My big brother will definitely be at Nelson, he's going to Brisbane as well, he might pop up to Hamilton - and sure if we make it to the final he might come to Melbourne.

“He still has his boots so if we do come down with a bout of injury he might pop in!”