NZ Cricket rejects misconduct cover-up claim

BY GEOFF LONGLEY

New Zealand Cricket's chief executive Justin Vaughan has rejected any suggestion that his organisation is covering up two serious incidents of misconduct involving Black Caps cricketers.

Vaughan said yesterday the issues regarding Jesse Ryder abusing team manager Dave Currie at the Champions Trophy tournament in South Africa in September, and Otago team-mates Neil Broom and Aaron Redmond breaking curfew in India on the New Zealand A tour in August, were handled appropriately.

Vaughan said that while incidents on the field come under an international code of conduct which required publicity to be given to the disciplinary process, that was not the case for off-field issues.

Vaughan said misconduct was dealt with in-house under the agreement between New Zealand Cricket and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association.

"They are private between the employer and employee and they are not made public. We are under no obligation to do that," he said.

In Dunedin yesterday, Currie downplayed the verbal altercation with Ryder that culminated in the injured batting star being fined for another discipline breach.

Ryder first took out his frustrations on a chair as he crossed the boundary rope in Johannesburg after smashing 74 from 58 balls against Sri Lanka despite batting in pain with a groin injury.

Currie initially sought to congratulate Ryder as he left the arena but after witnessing the chair being hit he tried to caution the 25-year-old.

Once inside the dressing room, Ryder – whose injury had ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament and cost him a lucrative payday in the inaugural Indian Premier League's Champions League – lashed out, swearing at Currie and telling him to go away.

Ryder's reaction to his dismissal mirrored a similar episode at Napier in March when he clunked his bat on the apron of the pavilion exiting after scoring a double ton against India.

Currie defended Ryder after that outburst, and was in a conciliatory mood yesterday, saying the fine was appropriate and their working relationship was fine.

"You wouldn't hope to have that behaviour but you accept cricket's emotional," Currie said.

Ryder had acknowledged his actions were unacceptable, Currie said.

"We went through a process, we're fine. This stuff happens in teams all the time, emotions can get ahead of yourself. I like him, he's a character and teams need characters."

Ryder, undoubtedly one of the side's finest strokemakers, has had a chequered history since his one-day international debut against England in the summer of 2007-08. At the end of that series he punched a window in a Christchurch bar, requiring surgery, before abusing hospital staff. Last summer he was stood down from the final ODI against the West Indies after missing a team meeting while concerns persisted over fitness and weight issues. However, his value is without question. The left-hander averages 49.88 from 11 tests.

Meanwhile, Broom and Redmond owned up to breaking team curfew and inadvertently starting what was described as a "riot" in Chennai.

Their confession came after the pair had gone out drinking and then questioned by police.

Once police realised they were New Zealand cricketers they were put in a taxi and sent to their hotel.

Redmond said they had not told team management that they would be leaving the hotel.

"Unfortunately when we decided to leave the nightspot we were picked up by police following another poor decision to hand out money to people living on the street, whereupon a crowd developed," he said.

"The police initially took us back to the station and then arranged for a taxi to take us back to the hotel."

-with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News