Ryder targeting return to NZ side, after 6 month ban

Dashing NZ opener Jessie Ryder’s 6 month ban is going to end on Oct 19th.

New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder is hoping to make a return to the international side for the upcoming home tours against West Indies and India. Ryder, who completed his six-month ban period after testing positive to a drug test in March, will be starting the season with Otago’s first Plunket Shield game against Wellington.

Ryder, who had taken time off cricket in 2012, returned later in the summer last year and scored heavily in the domestic matches, reeling off 1479 runs at an average of 49.30 across formats. In March 2013, Ryder was assaulted outside a bar in Christchurch and spent two days in a medically induced coma before making a recovery. But he still struggles to remember what had actually happened.

‘‘I look back and think I am lucky not to be dead,’’ Ryder said. "‘I couldn’t really believe it. I didn’t know where I was, what had happened. Someone told me I’d been jumped, hit from behind and had whacked my head. It was just black. I just woke up [in hospital] all of a sudden after 56 hours or so, I think it was, just bang, like that.

"At first, I just couldn’t walk properly. My balance was just so off and I was struggling to walk and the weakness was crazy. It took ages to get back to normal. I would love to actually take this opportunity to thank all the people who supported me through that time. It was overwhelming."