Bond ruled out of last two Tests

Shane Bond, the New Zealand fast bowler, will return home because of a knee injury that has forced him to miss the remaining two Test matches on the tour of South Africa.

"Shane was asked to bowl six overs yesterday as part of his fitness assessment, which he did. But the knee became sore after cooling down and Shane came to the conclusion that he could not take his place in the next two Tests," said Lindsay Crocker, New Zealand's general manager.

"The medical assessment is that Shane will now need four to six weeks rest for the injury to settle completely, before starting on building himself up again. This will be further assessed when he gets home. Shane will withdraw from his county contract with Gloucestershire, which he was due to take up at the completion of this tour."

Reacting to the news, Bond said that he wasn't sure his knee would stand up to the rigours of the five-day Test. "If it was a series of one-dayers I may well have played, but we've bowled on every day of every Test so far this summer and I don't think the knee would've stood up to that," Bond was quoted as saying by New Zealand Herald. "It wasn't worth the risk. I'd hate to go into a Test and let the team down in those circumstances, and I also have faith in the other members of the squad to go in there and do a good job, as they've done in the past."

He admitted that the financial setback of missing a county contract would hurt, but chose to look ahead, especially at the prospect of being fit for the World Cup in 2007. "Financially it's going to hurt a little bit but my priority has always been to play for New Zealand, especially in another World Cup," he said. "So I try not to think too much about losing that money and instead concentrate on doing things properly so I can be around for next year's World Cup and other events like that."

Michael Mason had already been called up as cover for Bond so New Zealand will not need a replacement for the second Test at Cape Town beginning on Thursday.

Bond missed the first Test at Centurion because of the same injury. He has been plagued by injury in the last few years, managing to feature in just six Tests since the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.