Doug Bracewell and Jesse Ryder have been dropped from the New Zealand cricket side after both became involved in a verbal altercation with patrons at a Napier bar. Photo / Getty Images
The father of suspended Black Cap Doug Bracewell says team officials were right to axe his son from the squad for drinking.
Batsman Jesse Ryder and Bracewell, a fast bowler, were dropped from the New Zealand side to face the Proteas in the final one-day international at Eden Park tomorrow after both were involved in a verbal altercation with patrons at a Napier bar.
Both were recovering from injuries and team protocol dictates that, as part of their rehabilitation, injured players should not drink between games.
Brendon Bracewell says his son was "extremely remorseful" when he called to tell him about the incident.
The suspension was a tough on the 21-year-old - but it was the right move for the team to make, he said.
"Hopefully he'll learn a lot from it. I said, mate, you've got to take this kind of stuff on the chin. Doug's a young guy and it's a steep learning curve but there's no excuse not to stick with the team protocol.
"He is extremely embarrassed by it."
Bracewell said Ryder and his son had gone out for drinks with Hawkes Bay cricketing friends after they left McLean Park at around 11pm.
A drunk patron had abused the pair about the loss earlier that evening and questioned why they were out drinking, he said.
His son had told the man to "piss off" after he was harassed while getting into his car.
"Things have changed. In my day there was no Sky TV. These guys now are TV stars. They've can't respond to this kind of thing," Bracewell said.
He had no concerns about his son going out with Ryder, who has a history of being disciplined for breaking team rules on drinking.
"Jesse can't be accountable for Doug."
Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum said he was disappointed by Bracewell and Ryder's actions.
The team did not want "these sorts of distractions'', he said.
"You've got a very disappointed bunch of players, and hopefully New Zealand Cricket will take that on board as well,'' he told Radio Sport.
"There's obviously some contractual obligations which need to be met along the way, which Jesse isn't meeting at this stage, and I'm sure that there'll be some intense discussions between Jesse's people and New Zealand Cricket around that contractual stuff.''
"The players wanted Jesse back when he was playing well and in the right head-space, but the team did not want "these sorts of distractions''.
"From our point of view, we'd just suffered another tough loss, our fourth in a row, and it certainly wasn't the time to be out socialising and being seen in public drinking.
"Obviously yeah, what's unfolded today is unfortunate, but from a team point of view we've got to be strong and make sure that we move forward and focus on the next game.''
McCullum said Ryder's reputation was that he had let the team down in the past.
"This is probably one of the more minor events, but ultimately it's probably one of the more definitive ones as well. So from a teammate perspective, it is frustrating because you just want your team performances to be doing the talking rather than any off-field behaviour.''
McCullum said management had handled the incident well.
"They've been very strong-handed with it, and I think that was what was required, and we can't have these sorts of disruptions in the team either. And Jesse's on the way home today.''
Ryder will miss the upcoming first cricket test against South Africa but New Zealand team management say it is form-related and has nothing to do with his latest indiscretion.
Tarun Nethula was also drinking with the pair but was not on the injured list so did not breach team protocol.
It was not Ryder's first indiscretion with alcohol and former New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan had given him a final warning. Large proportions of the New Zealand public are also losing patience with the talented batsman but New Zealand manager Mike Sandle said, because it was not a breach of their code of conduct, his contract was not in jeopardy.
Sandle, coach John Wright and captain Brendon McCullum decided on the sanction and have called up Colin de Grandhomme as a replacement for tomorrow's game.
"This is an internal team [matter]," Sandle said. "It's not a code of conduct. Jesse went out, there was a verbal altercation only. There was no physical or damage to property but he reacted along with Doug to some jibes from a bar patron and to me that was very minor in the scheme of things.
"We are disappointed, really disappointed as a team, that they were out there drinking alcohol and compromising their position and their preparation after the next game.
"I can't say how much [they were drinking]. It wasn't a big night. I know the guys were down town for a few hours. It wasn't an all nighter.
"Jesse shouldn't have been out with Doug but it's done now and we want to move on. We have expressed our extreme disappointment to both of them. They are remorseful and very sorry for their actions. For someone like Doug, he's a young guy and come a long way in a short space of time, this has to be a really good learning curve for him."
Bracewell will be available for the first test and has quickly become an integral member of the side after his impressive showings against both Zimbabwe and Australia. But Ryder won't be selected and Sandle was at pains to point out this had nothing to do with Wednesday night's incident.
"Jesse has gone home to Wellington," Sandle said. "He will not be available for the first test for us. That is purely a form issue. John [Wright] will elaborate on that. Jesse not being selected for the first test has nothing to do with this incident in Napier."
Ryder has sworn off drinking a number of times but these have been short-lived. In the past, teammates had acted as minders but Sandle thought Ryder was beyond that.
"If you don't wake up from these ... he has to take this on board and learn lessons from it and move on because we all know he's a great player and that's the shame of the whole thing."
RYDER'S ROCKY PAST
This is Bracewell's first scrape with authority since making the New Zealand team late last year. However, Ryder has form for getting offside with officialdom.
In February 2008, he cut his hand trying to break into a toilet at a Christchurch bar at 5.30am the day after New Zealand had won an ODI series against England. He paid for the damage and it was later revealed he had been rude to staff at Christchurch Hospital while demanding preferential treatment.
The following January, Ryder got on the booze after an ODI against the West Indies in Wellington, missed a team meeting and was unable to train the next afternoon.
He was dropped, but got a hero's welcome when ferrying drinks out to players on the field. New Zealand Cricket chief executive at the time, Justin Vaughan said: "We don't want to cast him out and say, 'When you're fixed come back'. We want to be part of the solution if we can."
Vaughan and Ryder's manager, Aaron Klee, announced after the series that the player had agreed to give up drinking completely.
Ryder fell off the wagon again while playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2009 Indian Premier League, staged in South Africa.
Later that year, playing against Sri Lanka, he whacked a chair with his bat after being dismissed and was fined 15 per cent of his match fee. Team manager Dave Currie gave him a bollocking and he returned fire with what was reported to be a tirade of abuse.
He faced a disciplinary hearing on the same day he won the Redpath Cup as New Zealand's premier batsman.
Cricket Players' Association boss Heath Mills said the players' behaviour had been disappointing.
"The guys have breached team protocol. That's totally unacceptable," Mills said last night.
"We're comfortable with the process followed by team management and the punishments handed out."