McMillan supports Ryder’s decision to decline NZC contract – Cricket News Update
Former New Zealand cricketer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 Cricket (NZC) contract is justified, as he needs time to sort out his personal issues before
he can face such a commitment.
"I hope he can get things sorted, because everyone would like Ryder at his best in the team,” McMillan said. “Theoretically, Jesse has another five or six good years left in him at top level.”
Ryder’s weight problems, alcohol-related issues and subsequent disciplinary breaches have been frequent and well-documented, including an incident where he broke a glass window with his hand after an evening of drinking. The act was expected to lead to at
least a 3-month suspension - however, his prowess with the bat earned him a national contract for 2008-09.
The most recent incident involved a drinking session with teammate http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in Napier on February 29. Both players breached team protocol by drinking while injured
(and thus compromising their fitness), in addition to engaging in a verbal altercation with a bar patron.
Both were banned from the final ODI, and Ryder was also dropped from the Test squad for the subsequent series, though this owed more to fitness concerns than disciplinary reasons.
Following the incident (which attracted a good deal of criticism), Ryder announced that he would be taking an indefinite break from cricket, stating that he needed time off as he was going through a “deeply stressful and emotional time”.
While he did make a brief return to cricket, featuring as the opening batsman for the Pune http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warriors-c861 franchise in the recently wrapped up 5th edition of the Indian Premier League, Ryder reached a mutual agreement with the NZC to forgo a central
contract for 2012-2013, with his manager Aaron Klee confirming that he was not ready for such a commitment as yet.
While he backed the all-rounder’s decision to take some time off, McMillan also pointed out that too prolonged a break from international cricket could lead to another cricketer claiming Ryder’s spot on the team. The left-hander, counted among the more hard-hitting
batsmen in the Black Caps squad, is a veteran of 18 Tests, and 39 ODIs, during which he has scored 1269 and 1100 runs respectively.
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