Jesse Ryder not ready just yet for a return

Despite considering  making a comeback in New Zealand’s home series against England next month, Jesse Ryder is not ready just yet to make his way back into the squad. He has ruled out a return to international cricket any time in the near future. However, Ryder will be spending time with the team. Earlier in the month, he said that he was looking at a comeback in the series against England and his good form only would have validated his selection.

But Aaron Klee, Ryder’s agent, had this to say,

“Jesse has decided that he is not ready to return to the Black Caps yet. He wants to stick to the plan he started last year, where he set out to achieve some personal goals and play a full season of domestic cricket.  He made a decision in June last year to take 12 months out of international cricket to achieve some of his goals. It has only been seven months since he made that decision. Whilst he has been back playing well, and starting to rediscover his enjoyment of the game, he feels that he needs more time before committing fully to playing international cricket,” 

Ryder was dropped from the national team following an incident during the ODI series against the Proteas. Subsequently, he decided to take an indefinite break from the game to work on various issues and work on his game. On his comeback to domestic cricket, he has performed consistently  having scored 580 runs at an average of 58 with 3 centuries in the Plunket Shield competition.  He was also the highest run-scorer in the HRV Cup scoring 584 runs in 12 games at an average of 58.40.

His agent also said, “Jesse is committed to seeing through the plan that has so far been successful.He has been making very good decisions – we need to respect his decision-making in this instance as well. He still has goals he wants to achieve and achieving these would be difficult whilst playing international cricket – especially given the schedule the Black Caps have in the coming months.”

“Jesse wants to keep to his original plan and the decision to take 12 months out of international cricket. That decision was made last June, so it is unlikely that he will deviate from his plan,” Klee adds mentioning that New Zealand cricket have been very supportive of Ryder’s return to the game.

Ryder, however, would play in the IPL if picked as it is a domestic competition and a short-term project, his manager said. Ryder will discuss his plans and future with New Zealand coach, Mike Hesson, in a few days. All those who were looking forward to the explosive batsman’s comeback will have to wait a little longer.