Shane Bond. What might have been?

[Flem274*]

Yes I know everybody hates these "One player" threads but the question has been nagging at me all day. If Bond had not been injured constantly and had played regularly since his debut, how would we perceive him now? Would he be one of the all time greats or just a real pain in the ****? Also, if he didn't have to go away and become a smarter, more cunning bowler due to having to lessen his pace, would he have been less dangerous? Is the current version far greater than the 2001 VB series original?

 

[Richard]

Something that interests me most about Bond, TBH, is... why did he take so long to get into cricket? Was it simply that he found, out of nowhere, ability that he never knew he had? Or was he otherwise occupied and just waiting for a chance (I know he's a policeman, of course)?

Had he started at 20 rather than 26, surely he'd have had better chance at getting over any injury-problems he had?

BTW, I don't see any potential problems with this thread.

 

[Flem274*]

Something that interests me most about Bond, TBH, is... why did he take so long to get into cricket? Was it simply that he found, out of nowhere, ability that he never knew he had? Or was he otherwise occupied and just waiting for a chance (I know he's a policeman, of course)?

Had he started at 20 rather than 26, surely he'd have had better chance at getting over any injury-problems he had?

BTW, I don't see any potential problems with this thread.

Well he's definitely been playing since he was young. He got all his much loved back injuries in high school. The same question is raised about why Peter Fulton was never selected until a few years ago. I think it's because just once for a change NZC hasn't picked up some young kid (Ken Rutherford, Ian Butler, Craig McMillan) and thrown him in the deep end. The same goes for Taylor. He could have been picked 3 years ago but they wanted him to mature. The same goes for Bond I think.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Like the thread Flem...one of my favourite ever bowlers tbh. He's just got absolutely everything. Accuracy, Pace, can move the ball, can swing the ball, has a great seam and a wonderful action. Just a real shame that he's constantly injured as I'm sure he would have gone down as an all time great. He still is held in very high esteem though.

 

[The Sean]

It still staggers me he's only played 16 Tests. Even with all his injury problems I thought he'd played around double that.

And he's 32 now, so we're running out of time to see him at his peak for an extended period. I hope we get the chance, because he really is off the top shelf.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Like the thread Flem...one of my favourite ever bowlers tbh. He's just got absolutely everything. Accuracy, Pace, can move the ball, can swing the ball, has a great seam and a wonderful action. Just a real shame that he's constantly injured as I'm sure he would have gone down as an all time great. He still is held in very high esteem though.

I thought his action was the reason he's had so many back problems, he bends it so much. I remember Goughy likening it to a ruler, the more you bend it back, the greater force it will spring forwards with.

 

[Richard]

Having a wonderful action to bowl with and having a wonderful action to avoid injury, sadly, are different things. And too many prioritise one at the expense of the other.

 

[open365]

I think he'd be one of the top 10 seam bowlers of all time if he'd played 100+ test matches the way he played his first 16.

He is absolutely awesome, like you said, he has everything; Pace, accuracy, swing, bounce, seam position.

Bond was the real deal, his 6 for 19 against Australia showed just how good he was and could have been.

Can anyone comment on how his action has changed over the years?

He's had 3 stress fractures to his back, and after each one i seem to remember reports saying he'd remodelled his action but i can't comment as i only really remember the new look Shane. Was he even quicker in his youth than he is now?

 

[Bahnz]

Something that interests me most about Bond, TBH, is... why did he take so long to get into cricket? Was it simply that he found, out of nowhere, ability that he never knew he had? Or was he otherwise occupied and just waiting for a chance (I know he's a policeman, of course)?

Had he started at 20 rather than 26, surely he'd have had better chance at getting over any injury-problems he had?

BTW, I don't see any potential problems with this thread.

When Bond was a youngster in his early 20's, he was nothing like the bowler we know today. He was skinny and unfit, and his bowling was strictly medium pace. After a couple of years of modest success in domestic cricket and continued back troubles, he took some time off cricket and went about joining the New Zealand Police. However, he decided to persist with cricket for one or two more seasons and returned to bowling with an astonishing speed boost. Many, including his former Canterbury team mate Chris Cairns, attribute this to his time spent bulking up in the various Police Training programmes he went through. But it wasn't till he was about 24 or 25 that he had truly become the bowler we know today.

 

[Days of Grace]

I for one hope he plays some more tests against Australia and in the sub continent. You have to admit that his average is boosted by a couple of days out against Bangladesh.

In ODIs, though, he has already proven that he is one of the top 10 bowlers of all time.

 

[Flem274*]

I for one hope he plays some more tests against Australia and in the sub continent. You have to admit that his average is boosted by a couple of days out against Bangladesh.

In ODIs, though, he has already proven that he is one of the top 10 bowlers of all time.

Off memory his best figures come from genuine strong test nations.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Off memory his best figures come from genuine strong test nations.

Yeah his ODI stats v Aus are nothing short of awesome he averages >15 IIRC.

 

[Days of Grace]

In tests, if you take away his games vs. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, then he averages 27.32.

Anyway, I just hope he plays a few more tests against Australia and some against England, so we can get a good sample on which to judge him by.

 

[The Sean]

In tests, if you take away his games vs. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, then he averages 27.32.

Anyway, I just hope he plays a few more tests against Australia and some against England, so we can get a good sample on which to judge him by.

Agreed - very much hope he's fit for England's visit early next year, and the tour of Australia at the end of 08.

 

[open365]

I for one hope he plays some more tests against Australia and in the sub continent. You have to admit that his average is boosted by a couple of days out against Bangladesh.

In ODIs, though, he has already proven that he is one of the top 10 bowlers of all time.

That's true, however i think it's pretty pointless going in depth on Bond's stats because virtualy all of his games have been comeback games so he won't have been bowling his best.

 

[Days of Grace]

Well, he's having a fairly long injury-free run at the moment, touch wood. Maybe he just needs to bite the bullet and play through the pain and not miss a game just because of a very minor niggle. There's no more World Cup to wrap him up in cotton wool now, so he should just play every game he can.

The Great Hadlee played until he was 39 (?) and didn't really come of age until he was 30. So, there's hope for 007 yet.

 

[silentstriker]

You can't really compare players like that. Everyone's body is different, and his action places a lot of stress on Bond's action that Hadlee's didn't.

And I think its unfair to say he should 'play through the pain', because I am pretty sure he didn't set out to play only 16 Test matches.

 

[Richard]

Hadlee's action >>>>>>>>>>>>> Bond's by several hundred >s, TBH, and can't see Bond playing all that much longer.

Would love to be wrong tho.

 

[Richard]

When Bond was a youngster in his early 20's, he was nothing like the bowler we know today. He was skinny and unfit, and his bowling was strictly medium pace. After a couple of years of modest success in domestic cricket and continued back troubles, he took some time off cricket and went about joining the New Zealand Police. However, he decided to persist with cricket for one or two more seasons and returned to bowling with an astonishing speed boost. Many, including his former Canterbury team mate Chris Cairns, attribute this to his time spent bulking up in the various Police Training programmes he went through. But it wasn't till he was about 24 or 25 that he had truly become the bowler we know today.

Thanks, Ben - really interesting.

 

[aussie]

One of the very best without a doubt AFAIC, the Bond of 2002 & 2003 that took the cricket world (especially Australia) by storm in 2002 has certainly slowed down a bit, because during those years he was easily a 90-95 MPH when in full motion and if as was mentioned already in this thread if he became the bond we know when he was 24/25 & made his debut @ 27 & had an injury free career he certainly could have had a fabolous career.