Enigmatic Jesse Ryder Only Ray of Hope for Black Caps

In the recent times there has been a lot of criticism for the New Zealand cricket team. Though they won the Rugby World Cup this year but their cricket team has been in tatters. The days of Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns have passed by and the new generation seems to be taking an awfully long time to cope up with the pressures of international cricket. Many experts have doomed the Kiwis and feel that dearth of talent in the domestic circuit is a reason for their recent poor showing. Indeed New Zealand being a small nation does not have a high ratio of players and selectors have a hard time picking their best team. In these bleak days of New Zealand cricket the only ray of hope is Jesse Ryder. The burly opening batsman has impressed cricket lovers all over the world with his aggressive and purposeful batting.

Jesse Ryder is Well Known for his Strokeplay

He broke into the cricketing arena with his impressive performances for New Zealand U-19. But his selection to the national team remained in doubts due to his weight issues. Adam Parore claimed that Jesse was too fat and not fit for playing international games. But the chief selector Richard Hadlee wanted to infuse this fresh talent into the New Zealand set up. He was selected to play in a T20 match against Bangladesh but could not take field due to injury. Finally he wore the black caps shirt when England toured New Zealand in 2008. He showed average performance in the two T20 scoring 22 and 12. But his score of 79 not out in the ODI made him an instant star. In the second ODI against England he alongside Brendan McCullum set up a record for any wicket against England by scoring 165 in 18.1 overs. But his stint with the national team ended when he cut his hand while trying to break into a toilet at a Christchurch bar after winning the series against England. He suffered severe hand injury and was criticised severely for such an irresponsible behavior.

Jesse Ryder after Injuring his hand in a brawl at bar

He returned back to the Kiwi side during the tour of Bangladesh in 2008-09. He made an unimpressive test debut scoring 1 and 38 in the two innings of first test. But in the second test he redeemed himself with scores of 91 and 39 not out. He was found guilty of drinking and missing the training sessions against West Indies and was dropped from the 4^th ODI team. After this incident Jesse promised to tame down and results showed soon. During the Indian tour Jesse was the star of the Kiwi team. He was the man of the match in the third and fifth ODI. His first ODI century came in the third match and he achieved it off 72 balls becoming the third fastest ODI century scorer for New Zealand. He even shone with the ball picking up key wickets. He became a regular opening partner of Brendan McCullum. In the subsequent test he further enhanced his reputation with a century in the first test (102) and a double century in second test (201). But he played no significant part in 2009 ICC World Twenty20 due to a groin injury. In the following years he has not had too many contributions to boast about.

Jesse Ryder is a nagging Military Medium Bowler Too

One of the prime concerns for Jesse Ryder through his short career has been injuries. Just when he looks to be in full flow he picks up an injury and gets sidelined. He has a special liking for India out of his 3 test centuries all have been scored against India and one ODI century is also recorded against the same opposition.  If he can be consistent and injury free he will be a great addition for New Zealand team.

Jesse Ryder During the Record Partnership with Brendan McCullum

BATTING AND FIELDING AVERAGES

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	16	29	2	1211	201	44.85	2208	54.84	3	6	137	6	10	0
ODIs	37	31	1	1094	107	36.46	1212	90.26	2	6	114	31	13	0
T20Is	19	18	1	360	62	21.17	293	122.86	0	2	37	14	5	0

BOWLING AVERAGES

Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10 Tests 16 15 492 280 5 2/7 2/15 56.00 3.41 98.4 0 0 0 ODIs 37 18 383 399 11 3/29 3/29 36.27 6.25 34.8 0 0 0 T20Is 19 5 60 68 2 1/2 1/2 34.00 6.80 30.0 0 0 0