The end of the road for Ryder?
ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Nov-2014
Any chance of Jesse Ryder making a last-ditch claim to be in New Zealand's World Cup squad has all-but ended after his withdrawal from the A-team's tour of UAE due to "personal reasons". It is the latest chapter in the controversial, troubled and occasionally thrilling career of Ryder whose recent form in English and New Zealand domestic cricket had increased the talk of a potential recall. In the Dominion Post, Mark Geenty says that this latest development is little surprise and NZC should have seen it coming.
Not many people know Ryder well but those who do saw his Friday drinking and Saturday no-show at Dunedin airport coming a mile off. He was five days out from leaving for Dubai with New Zealand A in a trial run for selection in the World Cup 30. The spotlight was intensifying. He gave a half-hearted press conference in Hamilton three weeks ago which hardly suggested a man desperate to play on the biggest stage of all.