The arrival of JD

I've been hearing the name Jesse Ryder being bandied about since November 2005 as a possible solution to New Zealand's top order woes, and on Tuesday I was given a a flash of what that was all about. He was spoken of in the same breath as a young Martin Crowe, which I duly treated with scepticism. But I also noted that he was considered a potential troublemaker and was pretty certain I wouldn't see him on the international stage anytime soon, given the reluctance of the current era to encourage oddballs.

The combination of an exodus of former players and the poor form of other incumbents like Lou Vincent and Mathew Sinclair meant that Ryder finally got his chance, beginning with the 20-20s. Those games gave me a mere glimpse of his love for the biff, but his assault on the England bowlers in tandem with Brendon 'loose cannon' McCullum has made me a believer. This guy can belt the ball a fair way, and if he is as temeremental as they say he is, he doesn't show it. Cool as a cucumber, as WM Lawry would have it. And, those were all cricketing strokes, with no slogging. On the wider significance of his arrival, remember: With the departure of Inzamam aloo haq and Darren Lehmann in recent times the cricketing world thought it had seen the last of that breed, who never let cricket come in the way of the after-work beer or epicurean delights. Ryder (whose "favourite shot is the tequila", according to a banner at the Basin) will keep the flag flying for a while by the looks of it. And I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have escaped all interested observers who've been piling on the food n drink comments that his initials are JD.

Some comments/questions on Tuesday's game:
1. What did the rain break to to England's heads anyway?
2. Well done, Michael Mason. You were sharp and you proved this critic wrong. (I believe Mason is now injured and his arch rival Iain O Brien is all set to take his place. And all this while AR Adams is finishing up with Auckland befor ehe heads to the ICL? Crazy.
3. Interesting to hear the chants of 'Broad is a wanker'. Was this the Beige Brigade?
4. Simon Doull is a terrible commentator, totally lacking in objectivity. I'd put him in the Sunil Gavaskar "angry old man" category, except he's still in the thirties.