The 30-year-old has recently returned from a successful stint with English county side Essex and met Black Caps coach Mike Hesson for a ''quick chat'' during an Otago trial match at Tonga Park on Sunday.
Ryder would not reveal what the pair talked about, but there are obviously some bridges to mend.
The punishing left-hander was dropped from the national squad following a drinking session with Doug Bracewell on the eve of the first test against India last summer.
Bracewell has since been welcomed back into the fold, but Ryder has not. Hesson has been quoted as saying: ''One player has run with it and made significant changes. The other less so''.
Still, Hesson has also maintained the door is not closed, and that particular message appears to have reached Ryder.
''I had a quick chat with Hess the other day and we covered a few points,'' Ryder told the Otago Daily Times yesterday, but he declined to elaborate.
''There has been a lot of talk saying that I don't want to play for my country any more and all that stuff. But that is definitely not true.
''I just want to come back and enjoy playing for Otago and see what happens. Like I said, the door is not closed.''
That is good news because the Black Caps are in need of a top-order batsman who can bowl a few overs. Ryder fits that bill perfectly.
He rather surprised himself in the United Kingdom. Perhaps best described as a useful part-timer, he reinvented himself at Essex as a pseudo strike bowler.
He was his side's leading wicket-taker in the Championship with 44 wickets at an average of 18.09, including four five-wicket bags.
''I have not really bowled much in my career but over there I got the opportunity to bowl lots and the Duke ball did enough for me and kept me in the game for most of the innings,'' he said.
''I was just bowling more ... and found out more about my game with the ball.''
That success may translate into more work at the bowling crease for Otago.
''I'm sure I'm going to get more of an opportunity after what happened over there. It will just be interesting to see if I can continue what I did over there.''
Ryder looked to be hitting the ball nicely in the nets at Otago training yesterday but he had a slow start with Essex before eventually coming right. He finished with a haul of 630 runs at 37.08.
He has signed with Essex for another two years and ''hopefully more, all going well''.
Ryder will also skip at least three Otago one-day games to play for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash in January.
But more immediately he is focused on continuing his great run with the Volts. Here is a quick recap. Ryder scored 776 runs at 59.69 in the Plunket Shield last summer, including four hundreds.
He was the leading scorer in the one-day competition with 436 runs at 72.66, including two hundreds, and was named Otago batsman and cricketer of the year.
''I know, personally, I want to do better than last season and I'm around for most of it, to be fair, and should be able to do better.''
Actually, many cricket fans will hope he is playing for New Zealand for most of the summer, rather than the Volts.
