Ryder to be sacked by Ireland 28 May 2007 By: James Nixon

The controversy surrounding Jesse Ryder has continued with the New Zealand player set to be sacked from the Ireland cricket team.

Ryder failed to show for Ireland's Sunday league match against Surrey in the Friends Provident Trophy at the Brit Oval with Ireland coach Phil Simmons being forced into drafting spin bowler Gary Kidd into the squad.

Simmons told the BBC "I received a text message that he had missed his flight and have heard nothing since. It's not acceptable to me, and I don't think he'll play for Ireland again."

Simmons went onto say "I haven't ruled out bringing in someone else for the final two games against Middlesex and Glamorgan on June 10 and 13, as we have a budget already in place for those games. Ideally someone based in England would be our preferred option."

Ryder told the New Zealand newspaper The Sunday News over the weekend that he was planning on turning his back on New Zealand to aim for a spot within the England national team.

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