WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – International cricketers Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell are in trouble again for what New Zealand Cricket has described as “totally unacceptable” behaviour the night before the first test against India in Auckland.
The pair, who were not in the starting team for the clash at Eden Park, had been out at a bar until the early hours of Thursday, which was a breach of team protocols, NZC said.
“Their behaviour is totally unacceptable the night before a match,” team manager Mike Sandle said in a statement early yesterday. “We trust the players to make good decisions and the pair have breached this trust.”
Sandle had spoken to the pair and they confirmed they had been in a bar until early on Thursday morning, NZC said.
While neither had been included in the final side confirmed by captain Brendon McCullum on Wednesday, they were expected to be ready to play on Thursday.
Bracewell was on standby should one of the bowlers break down in the final warm-ups while Ryder had to be ready to come into the team for batsman Ross Taylor, whose wife is expected to give birth to their second child this month.
Both players were released on Thursday to play first class cricket, though Bracewell was then ruled out of Central Districts’ match against Ryder’s Otago with a broken foot.
Local media said the bowling all-rounder had taken a full part in training on Wednesday. NZC said it was unsure when Bracewell suffered the injury and that was under investigation.
CHEQUERED PAST
The duo have had a chequered past with cricket officials.
They were both disciplined for being at a bar on the night before a one-day international in Napier in Feb. 2012 and getting involved in a verbal altercation with a member of the public.
While both were injured at the time and not expected to play, the team said they had breached strict rules around recovery from injury.
Ryder went into self-imposed exile after that incident and spent almost two years away from the international game as he attempted to put his life back together off the field.
He returned to the national side last December for the limited overs series against West Indies having served a six-month doping ban and survived an assault that left him in a coma with serious head injuries.
He had been widely expected to be named in the starting side for the Feb.14-18 second test at Wellington’s Basin Reserve in place of Taylor, who can not be replaced if he withdraws from the team during the match, though this latest incident may cloud that selection.
NZC said it would continue to investigate the incident and would not comment further.
India will resume the third day’s play later on Saturday on 130 for four in reply to New Zealand’s imposing first innings total of 503.