Away from cricket for 7 months due to coma and drug ban, Jesse Ryder hits century on return

After being in coma seven months ago and serving out a ban for failing a drug test, Jesse Ryder scored 117 in his first match on return

Jesse Ryder was in coma seven months ago. He was then banned for six months after testing positive for a banned drug which was present in his weight loss pills. Then yesterday, in his first match since March this year, he scored a century in New Zealand’s domestic first-class cricket.

The left-hander scored 117 for Otago in the Plunket Shield match against Wellington and announced his return in a grand style.

He reached his century in 151 balls, scoring 19 boundaries. He was later dismissed by Andy McKay, but has signalled his intent of making a comeback for the Black Caps with this knock. It was his 14th first-class century, which included 22 boundaries.

Apart from Ryder, his teammates Aaron Redmond (154) and Michael Bracewell (107) also struck centuries as Otago declared at 534/9. Wellington were 217/2 at stumps on Day 2.

Ryder’s career has been riddled with controversies and alcohol-related problems have often resulted in off and on-field issues with the team management.

Recently, the New Zealand batsman had said that he was aiming for a return to international cricket.

“My main goal is to play for New Zealand again. All going well, I’d like to push for the West Indies tour. But, definitely, the main aim is to try and earn a call-up in time for that Indian tour [scheduled in January next year] if they don’t pick me for the West Indies tour [in December this year],” he had told Fairfax NZ news.