Hello and welcome back to my blog
It has been along
time my friends since I last posted here - December
5th 2012 actually - when I
wrote about the regrettable situation that now finds New Zealand captained by
Brendon McCullum instead of Ross Taylor. It has been a long season since
then with a 2-0 series defeat to South Africa that included both encouraging
signs and depressing failures (45 anyone?), although this was redeemed by a 2-1
series win in the ODIs. The latter has not yet proven to be a false dawn
as we were competitive in the ODIs and 2020s against England before surprising
everyone in the 0-0 tests against same (could have been 1 or 2 to nil in our
favour but for weather and dropped catches). However I will have to deal
with this season in more depth next week because something else naturally drew
my attention on my return to cricket writing. I wanted to write at length
today about the positive signs in the test team but instead I feel a need to
pay my respects to the horrible fate that befell Jesse Ryder during the week.
While I find the public beating of him reprehensible, I will leave it to
the vast social media of Facebook and Twitter to opine on the event itself and the
good justice of the courts and the angry mobs to deal out punishment for the
those involved, instead I would focus my emotion on a particular aspect.
I had grown used
to the media exploitation of Jesse Ryder during his career. From his
drunken episodes in public to the throwing of his cricket bat at a chair after being
dismissed, media again and again revealed an obsession with reporting any
misdemeanour with relish. This completely ignores the reality that any
number of sportsmen, professional or otherwise, have made complete asses of
themselves at one point or another but only a select few are worthy of media
'scrutiny' and the public scorn that follows. The truth is that Ryder had
as much chance in this fight with the media as he did against 2-4 individuals
in a Christchurch bar and although questions remain over whether the
individuals in the garden city attacked him from behind or from the front, I
have no doubt from which side the media deliver their blows.
On
Thursday morning we woke to find headlines stating that Jesse Ryder had
been assaulted in the early hours. A shocking enough wakeup for me and
for you I imagine, especially when the severity of the injuries resulted in an
induced coma upon a hospital bed. What began to cause my breakfast to
turn in my stomach however, was how quickly both Stuff and The Herald filled
their articles with a long list of his history with alcohol and noted drunken
episodes - as if to suggest that the beating had anything to do with
alcohol at all. They didn't dare suggest this openly but let us draw our
own conclusions. Can you imagine a scene where in Stephen Fleming
tearfully spoke of the bomb blast in Pakistan and have it reported as 'tearful
captain fronts media in daze, by the way remember how he got stoned in South
Africa? We're not saying anything but...'.
The media couldn't
help itself - Jesse in a fight in the suburbs of Christchurch, there he goes
again - and to see the treatment repeated in this way on the night news
reports, several hours after it was plain that this was almost certainly not
another situation like those that had come before; disgusting. The moment
when I realised Ryder will never have a chance with this lot, the
greatest perversion of all was the inclusion of his score for Wellington the
day before (0) to all but shout at the reader 'he got out of control ater failing with the bat'. Without a shred of proof or understanding of the
situation this disgraceful insinuation was planted in the middle of the Stuff
story. It doesn't matter what he does it can all be tied to the great
tapestry of an arrogant alcoholic.
For instance, as I
mentioned before Ryder once hurled his bat at a plastic chair after being
dismissed for 200 and this was reported as Ryder being aggressive, betraying an
angry or troubled person underneath. You don't think Crowe, whose record
was clearly insight for Jesse, didn't damage a bit of property after going for
299? Or Taylor, McCullum, Fleming, McMillan and Cairns? – Don’t be
absurd. I just spent a summer watching batsmen swear, throw bats, kick
fences and lord knows what else during such moments; they can't all be violent
drunks? They're painting the picture that they want of Jesse Ryder, it's
easy to do, it sells and it's sadly what the public want. There's no need
to provide a fuller picture of his current situation, the story for instance
that Jesse invited all the young boxers of the Naenae club he joined under
Billy Graham, to his house for Christmas Day BBQ (not a drop of alcohol
in sight) doesn't get mentioned. It reveals a far more complicated
individual beyond the abilities of hack reporters to examine or discuss
It's not reporting
- it's tabloid garbage that isn't helping anyone and will only hurt the
individual in the end. Jesse Ryder's injuries from last week will heal,
any mental scares of the incident may take a little longer but it is the false
reputation spun around him that may do the most lasting damage.
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
