Troubled New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder was in critical condition in hospital Thursday after an “extremely vicious” attack as he left a bar in Christchurch, the police said. The 28-year-old was in an induced coma with a fractured skull and serious internal injuries, and his family was at his bedside. The attack was days before the batsman was to take up a lucrative IPL contract. Ryder has a history of disciplinary lapses and alcohol-related incidents, but though he had been drinking before the early morning assault, the police said alcohol was not a factor. Detective senior sergeant Brian Archer said there was a brief altercation involving Ryder and “two or three” people when he stepped outside the bar. Ryder then crossed the road to a nearby fast-food outlet where he was attacked. The police believed there were at least 10 witnesses, one of whom, Emma-Louise Ferguson, told the New Zealand Herald it was “unbelievably brutal”. She said: “They had him on the ground and they were kicking him hard.”
