LATEST TWIST IN REYSER SAGA
Player splits from manager
JESSE RYDER has split from longterm manager and number one supporter Aaron Klee as the embattled cricketer’s troubles with alcohol continue to unravel.
The Sunday Star-Times understands Ryder’s seven-year relationship with Klee came to an end on Friday night, hours before New Zealand Cricket revealed Ryder and Black Caps team-mate Doug Bracewell were under investigation for drinking into the early hours of Thursday – the morning of the Black Caps’ first test against India.
Ryder’s separation from Klee, a close friend as well as his manager, means Ryder is now without two of his main supporters as he is also understood to be no longer working with clinical psychologist Karen Nimmo. Since moving to Dunedin, the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association opted for a new provider of mental health support.
Both Klee and Nimmo accompanied Ryder to the Indian Premier League and helped guide him back to top-level cricket.
In a recent interview with the Star-Times, Klee, who fronted national media for an intense period while Ryder was in a coma with a suspected fractured skull after being attacked in the early
Most of it’s bollocks but no-one believes it anyway, so don’t worry about it, mate. Don’t call here again, thanks Jesse Ryder
hours of the morning outside a Christchurch bar, joked: ‘‘The 56 hours he was in a coma was the easiest 56 hours I’ve had managing him because he didn’t argue or make my job difficult!’’
Klee, whose relationship with Ryder goes back to Wellington’s Naenae Old Boys Club, could not be reached for comment last night.
Black Caps security officer Sam Dickason is understood to be interviewing hotel and bar staff in an attempt to piece together the events of Ryder and Bracewell’s night out.
Sidelined for an indefinite period with a broken foot, it’s still unclear how Bracewell sustained the injury, although it appears it happened sometime during the night out. Ryder’s career as an international cricketer is now in serious jeopardy with details also emerging of another big night out after the tied one day international with India at Eden Park on January 25. NZC confirmed reports Ryder was out until 3am and was so drunk he was escorted to a taxi outside an Auckland bar by teammate Jimmy Neesham, who was appointed his minder for the night.
When contacted by the StarTimes last night, Ryder slammed the latest reports on him saying ‘‘most of it’s bollocks’’ but declined the opportunity to go into detail.
‘‘Why would I want to make a statement?’’ Ryder said.
‘‘Most of it’s bollocks but no-one believes it anyway, so don’t worry about it, mate. Don’t call here again, thanks.’’ Reports have circulated about Ryder going out drinking regularly in recent months but he’s managed to stay out of trouble since returning to international cricket on Boxing Day.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson and senior Black Caps were understood to be furious when details emerged of Ryder and Bracewell’s latest hi-jinks on the same day captain Brendon McCullum scored a doublecentury and a dominant day for the team on Friday.
Ryder was a good chance of ending his 26-month hiatus from test cricket as cover for Ross Taylor, whose wife Victoria is due to give birth to their second child during the second test, but now won’t be considered for the match starting in Wellington on Friday.