Support for troubled Ryder

Dominion Post

OFF THE WAGON: New Zealand's Jesse Ryder wrote himself off in the team's South African hotel house bar five nights ago and needed to be escorted to his room by a member of Bangalore's security staff.

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Support continues for Jesse Ryder after the troubled batting star fell off the wagon in South Africa where he is playing for Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

After going without alcohol for more than 100 days Ryder wrote himself off in the team's hotel house bar five nights ago before being escorted to his room by a member of Bangalore's security staff.

Ryder's manager, Aaron Klee, is devastated by his star pupil's lapse and took some of his frustration out on some sections of the media for "grossly exaggerating" the facts.

There were website reports that Ryder "had to be restrained by security guards" after being involved in an off-field incident in South Africa.

"Stories of Jesse Ryder being restrained in an incident in South Africa are grossly exaggerated and inaccurate," Klee said. "It's disappointing that these false and unverified rumours are being reported as fact by the media."

Klee did, however, confirm Ryder, 24, had been drinking.

"Let's be fair to Jesse this is not a big issue. Jesse rang me and explained what happened several nights ago.

"He is disappointed that he drank after being off all alcohol for over 100 days. But there was no security incident."

News of Ryder's latest alcohol-related problem was generally greeted with sadness by his backers.

Bangalore have no plans to sack the hard-hitting batsman, who is contracted for US$160,000 for two years in the IPL.

"We have already taken steps to make sure he has additional support during his time in the IPL," Klee said.

"His franchise is well aware of the circumstances and they have no concerns with what happened, other than for Jesse's well-being. They have been very happy with Jesse's professionalism and attitude throughout the IPL."

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said offering Ryder support was the key rather than going down the path of punishing him.

Vaughan said Ryder had not been issued with any last warnings after he hit the bottle during the one-day series against the West Indies in January and subsequently slept through a team meeting.

"New Zealand Cricket supports Jesse's management team in their moves to put additional support in place for him in South Africa," Vaughan said.

"We accept that this is a difficult and complex problem, but we intend to continue to work positively with Jesse when the New Zealand team assemble later this month ahead of the world Twenty20 tournament.

"We will work with Jesse's management to ensure we maintain the support networks and protocols that worked well for Jesse during the latter part of the New Zealand summer."

Ryder's mentor, broadcaster Murray Deaker, also issued a written statement. "Jesse has had over 100 days of sobriety and has made enormous progress during that time on and off the field," Deaker said.

"For that to continue, he needs support, and moves have already been made to assist him to get back on top."

Ryder's first taste of the IPL is not proving a memorable one. Besides the off-field setback, he has had a groin injury throughout the tournament and only played in four of Bangalore's 10 matches, scoring 34 runs at an average of 8.50.

- © Fairfax NZ News