Jesse ryder return as middle order batsman

                                   Jesse ryder return as middle order batsman

Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum says Jesse Ryder will make his return to international cricket in the middle order rather than his usual opening slot in the third and final Twenty20 international against South Africa at Eden Park tonight.

Ryder, who hasn't played for New Zealand since their test win over Australia in early December, was recalled to the squad on Monday in place of all-rounder Andrew Ellis.

The 27-year-old has been sidelined with a calf complaint since December 27 but, after scoring a total of 252 runs in his last three innings for Wellington, has done enough to prove his fitness to the powers that be.

While the Black Caps were last night still deciding on their lineup for today's series decider, it's likely Ryder will come into the starting side in the place of Auckland all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme.

"We've obviously got a couple of selection dilemmas now but I think the majority of them are pretty healthy," McCullum said.

"There's a couple of circumstantial things which have come about but hopefully we'll find the right balance and manage to get the team we think is going to be competitive in this next game.

"I'm pretty keen for Jesse to play. But I guess it's a matter of trying to fit him in the team."

Given openers Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill are both in strong form, McCullum said it wouldn't make sense to throw Ryder in at the top of the order no matter how tempting.

"He'll probably bat around the four, five or six region.

"It's situational really. I think Kane [Williamson] has done a really good job, James Franklin's put his hand up as well and Colin has been a little bit short of opportunities.

"He [Ryder] will slot in around that area I imagine depending on how we are trucking."

Since sitting out the Zimbabwe series, Ryder has, by all accounts, thrown himself into a gruelling training regime with gusto.

He claims to have lost more than three kilograms and when he trained with his Black Caps team-mates at Auckland's Colin Maiden Oval yesterday, he looked in better shape than he has in a long time.

McCullum, however, wasn't interested in discussing Ryder's weight and emphasised that the onus was on the 27-year-old to prove himself with the bat in the coming weeks rather than on the scales.

"I don't really care about his weight  that's irrelevant to me," McCullum said.

"It's about whether he's capable of scoring runs and contributing to the team in an attitudinal manner as well."

With the series all square after South Africa's demolition of the Black Caps in Hamilton last Sunday, the New Zealanders are desperate to get their summer back on track.

Richard Levi's unbeaten hundred, which took the game away from the Black Caps, still remains a talking point.

But McCullum says he's confident his bowlers are up to the task and believes they have come up with a solid plan to bowl to the 24-year-old opener.

"Both our batting and our bowling will be tested. I thought the other day our batting stood up reasonably well but we still got a below-par total.

"Our bowling was then obviously put under some severe pressure by one very, very good innings.

"If you look at how we have performed throughout the summer, our bowlers have done a magnificent job for us and I expect them to do so in this next game as well."

 

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