Jesse Ryder has recovered from a side strain.
Christmas Day will have come and gone but the word is Jesse Ryder is back in the mix for his second appearance in domestic cricket this summer.
Ryder is likely to be batting in the top order of the Devon Hotel Central Districts Stags in the opening round of the Ford Trophy match against the Canterbury Kings in Napier on Sunday.
"Jesse is fully fit to bat and not bowling as yet but during the campaign we'll get his load up," said coach Heinrich Malan as CD come off another uneventful T20 season.
The 31-year-old, who missed the entire Georgie Pie Super Smash Twenty20 campaign bar the opening match as a drawcard until former Sri Lanka import Mahela Jayawardene arrived, picked up a side strain in early November after making one run from seven balls as an opener.
Jayawardene, who is now playing in the Big Bash T20 competition in Australia, had early this month indicated Ryder was on the verge of returning towards the business end of the Super Smash in a televised match at McLean Park but he was declared unfit and returned to his birthplace of Masterton to recuperate.
Malan says the Stags, who are the trophy defending champions, intended to "get the best out of him in the month before he heads back to England".
Championing the "x-factor skills" of Ryder, he says the left-hander was a world-class performer and they will welcome him with open arms in the hope of "seeing some special stuff in the top order on Sunday" at Mclean Park from 11am.
"You can't be disappointed in someone who cannot play because he's injured," he says when asked if fans will be disappointed with the former Napier Boys' High School pupil who used to consider the Bay his hometown before heading off to Wellington and Otago to ply his domestic trade after acrimony amid a rash of drinking and disciplinary sessions.
The Will Young-skippered CD, after the departure of retired Kruger van Wyk, are without Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne, Ross Taylor and George Worker who are in the Black Caps mix for the ODI series against touring Sri Lanka.
Nelson all-rounder Josh Clarkson, 18, will make his one-day debut and Bay medium-fast bowler Blair Tickner is a maybe as Ben Wheeler works his way back into the Black Caps' equation from a stress-related back injury.
Bay seamer Kurt Richards is bracketed with Wairarapa's Seth Rance as he recovers from a hamstring problem although Malan say he looked fine at training.
Andrew Mathieson, who earned a cameo Black Cap stint after becoming the highest wicket taker last summer, will spearhead the attack.
Newcomer Navin Patel, of Manawatu, will miss the two rounds because of pre-arranged holiday plans but Marty Kain and Ajaz Patel are the Central spinners.
Both teams:
CD STAGS (from): William Young (c, Taranaki) Ajaz Patel (HB), Tom Bruce (Taranaki) Seth Rance (Wairarapa)/Kurt Richards (HB), Josh Clarkson (Nelson), Jesse Ryder (Wairarapa), Dane Cleaver (wk, Manawatu), Bevan Small (Manawatu), Martin Kain (Nelson), Ben Smith (Wanganui), Andrew Mathieson (HB), Blair Tickner (HB).
CANTERBURY KINGS (from): Ken McClure, Cameron Fletcher, Edward Nuttall, Timothy Johnston, Kyle Jamieson, Peter Fulton (c), Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Leo Carter, Andrew Ellis, Matt Henry, Roneel Hira, Cole McConchie, Ryan McCone, Henry Nicholls, Logan van Beek.