The 30 year old left-hander’s quick-fire 138 for Otago against Ireland on Thursday re-ignited the long-running debate of whether he should represent the Black Caps at the World Cup next year.
While coach Mike Hesson says lines of communication are open with Ryder, the man himself still hasn’t committed to playing for his country again.
A New Zealand Cricket spokesperson said on Thursday that Ryder had ruled himself out of the North vs South Island of Origin match in Hamilton next Friday night because he was too busy preparing for the Plunket Shield and Twenty20 competitions with Otago. Ryder has recently returned from a successful stint in England playing for Essex.
Although Ryder won’t play in the one-off grudge match, there is no indication whether or not he’ll be eligible for the New Zealand XI tour of the United Arab Emirates which will be played during the Test team’s series against Pakistan in November.
Ryder hasn’t played for New Zealand since a late-night incident at the start of the year – the latest in a long line of off-field episodes.
Clearly he is one of the best batsmen in New Zealand – if not the world – but Ryder still needs to convince Black Caps management and senior players that he can commit off the field as well as perform on it.
Jesse Ryder’s future remains unclear
