NZ V WINDIES CRICKET: Ryder faces biggest challenge

ANENDRA SINGH
Jesse Ryder's latest drinking saga is definitely another opportunity for the Black Caps batsman to wake up and smell the coffee, says Hawke's Bay cricket stalwart Craig Findlay.
``Let's hope it was another wake-up call and he'll give it up completely,' the Napier Technical Old Boys' Cricket Club (NTOB) supremo told SportToday minutes before Ryder arrived at Hawke's Bay Airport early yesterday afternoon with the rest of the Black Caps squad for their fifth and final one-day international at McLean Park at midday tomorrow.
Findlay, who helped hone Ryder's skills from the time he arrived in the Bay from Masterton as an intermediate pupil before attending Napier Boys' High School and playing for the NTOB premier club side, felt his friends needed to help him out, too.
``It's better to see a mate become a millionaire than to watch him stuff up his life,' he said amid speculation that the protagonists in the lucrative Twenty/20 tournament may revisit plans to sign up Ryder after his latest lack of discipline with liquor.
On Friday night, a New Zealand Cricket email disclosed Ryder had been dropped from the fourth ODI against the touring West Indies side at Eden Park, Auckland, due to ``inadequate preparation'.
Ryder missed a team meeting on Thursday morning and did not train the next day in Auckland following a late night of drinking in Wellington, his new home since he left the Bay several years ago after a turbulent relationship with Central Districts.
On Friday, Ryder faced a disciplinary hearing where he was fined, prompting media commentators to claim the ODI opener got a rap on the knuckles considering NZ Cricket had read him a riot act last season following a drinking binge in Christchurch that left him with a severed tendon in his wrist.
Amid denials he was battling alcoholism, Ryder was placed under observation and ordered to undertake rehabilitation after he eventually agreed he had problems.
NZ Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan said in a statement: ``We are all disappointed that this has happened. Since February last year, we have witnessed encouraging signs from Jesse both on and off the park. These vast improvements meant Jesse was recently given more latitude in his personal decision making.
``In hindsight, this was premature. However while it is a drinking-related issue, it does not compare with last February in its severity,' Vaughan mitigated.
In a statement of apology, Ryder said: ``I have not only let myself down, but also my teammates, support team and the cricket fans in general.
``I thought I had reached the point where I could control my drinking better, but that is obviously not the case. I am only now starting to appreciate the size of the challenge that I face.
``I am totally committed to overcoming this problem and understand I will have to work even harder with the support group around me,' said Ryder, who became the towel boy lugging drinks to his teammates in Auckland amid cheers from the crowd.
CD captain Mathew Sinclair was recalled to bat at No3 but Aucklander Mark Guptill scored a ton in Ryder's opening berth.
Findlay, who was liaising to promote cricket to children with Ryder and a few of his fellow CD Black Caps in the squad here as co-ordinator of the annual Riverbend Camp in the Bay, said it was a pity Ryder had not been caught at the end of the Windies tour and ``it wouldn't have mattered much'.
``Jesse's obviously got an addiction and he made a wrong decision.'
He believed the bar owners around the country had got their share of mileage out of his demise amid reports of drinking holes naming parts of their premises and cocktails after the player.
Patrons at a Napier bar had expressed disgust at Ryder's behaviour early last year during the England tour, saying he had arrogantly sculled drinks well after the tourists had left for their hotel.
But Findlay yesterday said when Ryder had visited Napier last month for the five-day test match against the Windies he ``wasn't even drinking a drop'.
``A couple of the guys had invited him for dinner and they were having beers and offered him one and Jesse just politely turned it down.
``Last week must have been a lapse and his friends are the ones who have to help him out more than anyone else.'
Ryder could easily be led the other way if those around him said no to liquor.
Several people had contacted him at the weekend, Findlay said, including a former Tech mate, Shane Mohi, of Waipukurau, who hadn't played for more than a decade, as well as ex-Black Cap and Central Hawke's Bay veteran Lance Hamilton.
``Lance said to me it was exciting watching Jesse play and he would like to see him represent our country. Jesse's a lot more exciting than any player in the team right now,' Findlay said.