Arrests for assault as Kiwi star Ryder improves

Battered New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder was showing signs of improvement today and gave family the thumbs-up as police charged two men with assaulting the gifted batsman in a savage beating.

Ryder was attacked by a group of men as he left a bar in the South Island city of Christchurch early Thursday, and was rushed to hospital in a critical condition where he was placed in an induced coma.

–PTi