Problem child’ Jesse Ryder just doesn’t seem to be able to keep his distance from trouble. The high flying New Zealand cricketer was admitted to hospital in a critical condition after suffering severe head injuries in a brawl outside a bar in Christchurch on Thursday. As per the Christchurch Police, Ryder was attacked by two or three people when he was leaving Aikman’s Bar in the suburb of Merivale.
The 28-year-old, who was due to join the Delhi Daredevils later this week ahead of the Indian Premier league’s sixth edition, scheduled to begin in Kolkata on April 3, is in the intensive care unit with a fractured skull and is in an induced coma due to multiple injuries.
Delhi Daredevils’ mentor TA Sekar informed that the team will seek replacements for Ryder and Varun Aaron, who is out for at least five months.
“We will ask for a replacement for Jesse Ryder. We can ask for a replacement for Varun Aaron, too. We are waiting for the Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene to arrive here on Friday so that we can discuss the options before we ask for the replacements,” Sekar said.
Earlier, at a Press conference in Christchurch, Detective Senior Sergeant Brian Archer of Christchurch Police said Ryder was attacked twice in quick succession as he left a bar where he had gone with his Wellington teammates after their team suffered a semi-final loss in the domestic one-day competition earlier in the day.
There was a brief altercation involving Ryder and “two or three” people when he stepped outside the bar. Ryder then crossed the road to a nearby fast-food outlet where he was attacked by one of the people from the initial confrontation.
Police said there was no evidence at this stage to suggest that alcohol was a contributing factor to the assault. Ryder had been on an indefinite break from cricket since March last year following injury concerns and a prolonged history of disciplinary issues. Already hit by the absence of England’s Kevin Pietersen, who has been ruled out of the
T20 event due to an injury, the Delhi franchise, which had paid $260,000 for Ryder’s services in the latest auction, would need to re-plan their batting strategies.
Ryder last played for New Zealand in an ODI against South Africa in February last year. He was reprimanded after that match for breaking team rules by drinking alcohol while recovering from an injury.
Ryder then made himself unavailable to play for the country by turning down a national contract to deal with alcohol and fitness issues.
He engaged a clinical psychologist to assist him in dealing with those problems. While Ryder hasn’t spoken publicly about those issues, friends say he’d turned his life around in the past 12 months.
last year, Ryder took his manager and psychologist along with him to India for the IPl where he played for the Sahara Pune Warriors
“We are all shocked by what has occurred and extremely concerned for Jesse. New Zealand Cricket’s thoughts are with him and his family,” New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive David White said in a statement.
The New Zealand Players Association (NZPA) too were in shock over the assault.
“Obviously the cricket community’s very shocked at what’s happened to Jesse. He’s obviously in a serious condition. It’s a sad day for us, a number of players around the country are in shock, our focus now is on Jesse and his well-being,” Heath Mills, the CEO of the association, said.
The New Zealand media quoted witnesses as saying the assault on Ryder appeared to be unprovoked and one, Regan Harvey, described the incident as a “Jesse-hate fight.”
“As I walked out there were a couple of guys beating up this one guy on the ground,” Harvey told Fairfax media. “As far as I can tell Jesse has done nothing wrong here. It looked like it was completely unprovoked.”
“We believe at least 10 or more people have witnessed some of the events,” he said. “There are CCTV cameras in the area and we’re going through the process of downloading and reviewing that footage so we can have a clearer picture of what has taken place.”
As the news spread in the cricketing world there was an outpouring of sympathy and concern for the young player.
West Indies star Chris Gayle posted in a Twitter message: “Will have Jesse in my prayer. Pray for Jesse. let’s hope he gets better soon.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted: “Devastating news regarding Jesse Ryder. Just hope he can pull through. Thoughts are with him and his family.”
Former Australian pacer Damien Fleming wrote on twitter: “Our thoughts to Jesse Ryder in intensive care after being assaulted. Shocking news.”
IPl CEO Sundar Raman wrote on twitter: “Not the best cricketing news to wake up to. Jesse Ryder get well soon.”
Australian legend Glenn McGrath tweeted: “Our thoughts are with NZ cricketer Jesse Ryder & his family. Jesse was assaulted & is in intensive care. We wish him a speedy & full recovery.”
England off-spinner Graeme Swann tweeted: “Shocking news about Jesse Ryder, fingers crossed for a full and speedy recovery for the big man.”