Jesse Ryder gets Wellington contract

Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, has been offered a contract with Wellington for the domestic season starting this year. Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket and Ryder had agreed to avoid a national central contract - Ryder had been dropped from the New Zealand squad in March for breaking team protocol - but he had declared himself available to play for Wellington for the 2012-13 domestic season.

Left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira, who played for Auckland Aces, has won a contract with Canterbury Wizards. Wicketkeeper Reece Young, who played for Canterbury, returned to Auckland.

New Zealand's six major associations have announced the first round of domestic contracts for 2012-13. The contracting process involves two rounds with the associations being allowed to pick 9 to 13 players in the first, and complete the process to have a final list of 14 in the second, which will be announced on August 9 this year.

The two-stage process, according to a New Zealand Cricket release, was geared towards ensuring more competition for the final contracts and that the best players were contracted across the country. Five of the six associations have announced lists of 13; Northern Knights have named nine players.

The domestic contracts offered today commence on October 1, 2012.

Auckland Aces: Dean Bartlett, Michael Bates, Colin de Grandhomme, Gareth Hopkins, Anaru Kitchen, Bruce Martin, Michael McClenaghan, Tim McIntosh, Colin Munro, Bhupinder Singh, Daryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent, Reece Young.

Canterbury Wizards: Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Brad Cachopa, Peter Fulton, Matt Henry, Ronnie Hira, Tom Latham, Willie Lonsdale, Ryan McCone, Henry Nicholls, Shanan Stewart, Logan van Beek, George Worker.

Central Stags: Carl Cachopa, Jamie How, Marty Cain, Andrew Mathieson, Adam Milne, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Jeet Raval, Dean Robinson, Mathew Sinclair, Bevan Small, Ben Smith, Ben Wheeler, William Young.

Northern Knights: Graeme Aldridge, Corey Anderson, Brent Arnel, James Baker, Anton Devcich, James Marshall, Daryl Mitchell, Brad Wilson, Joseph Yovich.

Otago Volts: Derek de Boorder, Nick Beard, Michael Bracewell, Darren Broom, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Mark Craig, James McMillan, Jimmy Neesham, Aaron Redmond, Hamish Rutherford, Neil Wagner, Sam Wells.

Wellington Firebirds: Harry Boam, Josh Brodie, Grant Elliott, Mark Gillespie, Scott Kuggeleijn, Andy McKay, Stephen Murdoch, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Michael Pollard, Luke Ronchi, Jesse Ryder, Luke Woodcock.