Cricket: Ryder plays game of patience

Jesse Ryder hangs out with with Te Ahupo. during a Camp Quality children with cancer outing at Lindisfarne College in Hastings. PHOTO/PAUL TAYLOR

You won't see Jesse Ryder storming off the pitch, smashing bats and kicking chairs anymore.

No, that's a thing of the past for the former Hawke's Bay cricketer.

That's because the 29-year-old former Napier Boys' High School student is in a happy place.

"I'm really enjoying getting back into cricket and that has transferred into the international side as well," says the Black Caps batsman before tomorrow's first ODI against India at McLean Park, Napier.

He finds the culture at the Otago Volts "amazing" and the move to Dunedin is great for him.

"I'm continuing to enjoy it and not letting too much faze me.

"If I get a duck, I get a duck. If I get a hundred then I get a hundred so just as long as I'm enjoying the game."

Rain scuppered Ryder's attempt to find traction in the ODI against West Indies here early this month but he's itching to have a go tomorrow on a balmy forecast that will flirt with 30C on a ground he has scored tons.

"In the past that's been good but that's in the past but, hopefully, I can continue my good form at McLean Park to put a big score on the board."

Admittedly an aggressive Ryder threw his willow at anything that moved last season but this summer he preaches patience in carving a niche in all three formats.

"This [season] I wanted to build an innings and go like that for the test game but, in the one-dayers and T20s, I like to play my natural game.

"I definitely like test cricket so that's where I want to get into so, hopefully, down the track I'll be back in the test side."

He said the Black Caps were excited to come up to Napier from Wellington to take on the best ODI country in the world.

"I'm sure everyone is pumped for this. I definitely am because I want to continue my good form against them.

"I've been basing my innings around patience and stuff like that so this is the big theory and I want to perform to put my name out there."

It still amazes him how much support he receives in the Bay.

"It's supposed to be my second home. I went to school here so it's always good to come back home to play here in front of a familiar crowd," he says, making a point of catching up with former Napier Technical Old Boys premier teammates and stalwarts.

NEW ZEALAND (from): Brendon McCullum (c), Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Nathan McCullum, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne.

India (from): MS Dhoni (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravi Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Ravi Ashwin, Ambati Rayudu, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishwar Pandey, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron.

Pitch/forecast: Just ask Kyle Mills what's under the covers that can yield up to 500 runs. Weather is predicted to be 29C and fine.