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Black Caps batsman Jesse Ryder - Source: Photosport -
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New Zealand need a hero and a crowd-puller for this month's two-Test series against Australia and unfortunately for the Black Caps it's not going to be big Jesse Ryder.
The hard-hitting left-hander had abdominal-wall surgery last month to help his recovery from a groin injury which has kept him out of the national side for six months.
Ryder, who boasts an average of 49.88 in his 11 Tests, has made a comeback at club level last weekend but hopes of a rapid return to the Test side have faded.
The 25-year-old, who promises so much but keeps facing setbacks like the time he put his hand through a glass window in 2008 apparently during a drinking session, is unlikely to play in the first Test in Wellington on Friday or the second Test in Hamilton starting on March 27.
"I can assure you he won't be playing in a Test match," New Zealand team physiotherapist Kate Stalker told the New Zealand Herald newspaper on Saturday.
"This level of cricket is more than a couple of steps ahead. Provincial cricket is like fourth gear in a car; international cricket is sixth gear. It's too hard (for Ryder at the moment)."
Ryder's appearance in club cricket last weekend caused shockwaves at national level with officials surprised the aggressive big man had returned to the playing field so quickly.
"My concern is not that he's going to reinjure his adductor or anything like that," Stalker said.
"He needs to build up his fitness. I don't want him bowling because he's not fit enough to bowl.
"I don't want him tearing a calf muscle or pulling a hammy or ripping his shoulder because he's not conditioned to do that at the moment.
"He's like a cricketer who's had six months off during the winter and is now doing his pre-season training."
It's more likely Ryder will return to the national side in the West Indies for the World Twenty20 in April-May.
"I think he was there to bat and bat only, but it went a little further," Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori said of Ryder's club comeback.
"In some ways it's a good thing, it means he's feeling good about himself and he wants to get into it."
Vettori said he understood March 29 was the date set down for Ryder's first-class return.
"Whether that changes or not through his increased performance and fitness, I'd never say never to anything but we'll have to wait and see how he progresses," Vettori said.
