Cricket: Ryder taking assisted step towards return

Jesse Ryder. Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

Jesse Ryder's long and winding road to recovery turns another significant corner today when he plays, sort of, for Wellington A against England Under-19s.

Some 102 days after he quite literally picked up a bat in anger against Sri Lanka at the Champions Trophy in South Africa, Ryder will test himself again in the middle.

He will not, however, be forced to do anything as strenuous as fielding or even running between the wickets.

He will play as a batsman only and have the use of a runner, part of a rehabilitation programme negotiated between Wellington and New Zealand Cricket.

Cricket Wellington chief executive Gavin Larsen said while they were anxious to get Ryder back for the HRV Cup "sooner rather than later, we are really conscious of not wanting to go back to square one".

The interest is in how well he moves at the crease and ideally they would like to see Ryder bat for long enough to play a range of shots, both in the "V" and cross-bat.

Ryder aggravated an adductor (lower stomach) strain while at the Champions Trophy, an injury that had troubled him since the Indian Premier League in March, 2009.

"He's progressing well," Larsen said. "He's getting fitter and stronger by the day. We're treating this as just another step, albeit a significant one, in his recovery."

Ryder has even managed to find his way into the headlines while not playing. There was the revelation he had faced a misconduct charge after an expletive-laden tirade at manager Dave Currie after being dismissed against Sri Lanka, while his neighbour in the Hutt Valley suburb of Kelson complained to the local paper that the 25-year-old was hosting vomit-stained parties.

Larsen said that there was always the chance of the odd hiccup with Ryder but as far as he was concerned the ultra-talented left-hander had worked really hard during his recovery and "was itching to play cricket".

While there had deliberately been no return date set for Ryder, Larsen said there was a chance he would play club cricket for Naenae on Saturday if he came through today's exercise at Karori Park unscathed.

NZC physiotherapist Kate Stalker said the match was an opportunity for him to have what will essentially be an open wicket practice.

"Hopefully this will help him to build up some batting endurance," said Stalker. "Jesse is progressing well, but until he has completed his rehabilitation and has passed a range of intensive fitness tests he will not be available for full selection for Wellington or [New Zealand].

"We want to do everything possible to ... ensure that his rehabilitation is complete."

The Wellington team also includes international Mark Gillespie, who is also returning from a significant injury.

The 30-year-old seamer will play in his first representative match since injuring his back playing for Wellington against Canterbury in a domestic one-may match in January last year.

Gillespie has played 46 internationals across the three formats and taken 58 wickets for New Zealand.

The England team is based in Wellington this week in preparation for the start of the ICC Under-19 World Cup this weekend.