At Ryders barbeque party,agent-friend saw welcome change

On the eve of New Zealand teams departure for the long India tour,Aaron Klee got a barbeque invitation that made him worried.

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On the eve of New Zealand teams departure for the long India tour,Aaron Klee got a barbeque invitation that made him worried. Jesse Ryder,the player he has been managing for a while now,was the host and that was the reason Klee anticipated trouble on two counts.

First,the Kiwi squad was to fly out early next morning. Second,Ryders parties as a rule lasted till the wee hours of the morning. But Klee (who in a lighter vein believes that managing the Kiwi bad boy is tougher than being a UN peacemaker) was in for a surprise with the events that unfolded at Ryders home. Three couples sat around the fire as kids ran around and the party was over well before mid-night. As Klee drove home that night,he thought that things might just turn around for Ryder in India. Sitting in the stands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and watching Ryder play,Klee narrates the barbeque incident and speaks about how this could be a watershed tour for his boy. Jesse has been very hard on himself for the last two months and it was very important that he did well here. In case he hadnt done well,he would have questioned the logic of the efforts he put in to change his ways, says Klee,who flew in from Wellington to watch the second Test.

After India had scored 487 in the opening Test at Ahmedabad,it was Ryders 103 that brushed aside the pre-tour pre-conceived notion that New Zealand were push overs. And at Hyderabad on Saturday,he stood firm against Zaheer Khans deadly spell in the morning to score 70 important runs and help his team post a challenging first innings score of 350.

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While Ryders simultaneous battle with the bottle and brush with those in authority is well-documented,Klee speaks about his friend-cum-clients lesser known attempts to come clean.

The turnaround apparently came two months back,and within days of Ryder being fined for his intoxicated and rowdy behaviour at a hotel while playing a indoor cricket tournament. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) was about to shred his central contract and Klees managerial skills were once again put to test. He first convinced NZC to give the serial offender one more chance and later had the more important one-on-one with Ryder. Without mincing words,he called Ryder fat and gave him an idea about life without cricket.

Klee didnt just point out the flaws,he gave a solution too. I thought of micro-managing him. I had my doubts that the plan might not work out,but it did, he says. From the time he woke up to the time he slept,Ryder had a new Klee-schedule to follow. Jesse liked the system a lot. He started going to the gymnasium three times a day. His old pals stayed away, he says.

The discipline in Ryders batting was there to see. Quick reflexes,strong punch and the subtle turn of wrist were the stand out feature of his batting this morning. The way he handled Zaheer was a lesson in the art of facing pace bowling.

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He waited for the late movement and in that very last second,his bat would be positioned exactly where he could block the ball away from the stumps. If the ball was pitched marginally outside the off-stump,he played a wristy shot that would qualify to be called a Hyderabadi. Anything short was punched off the backfoot and free flowing drives greeted the balls that were pitched up.

Klee couldnt wipe the smile off his face but he will have to wait to watch another Ryder hundred. With the IPL auction just around the corner,Ryders form in the one-dayers will be key to raking up the big bucks. And if all goes well,Klee will be going to another barbeque at Ryder home without any apprehensions.