Bond aims for Champions Trophy return

Shane Bond, the New Zealand fast bowler, who is missing the ongoing tour of South Africa due to injury, intends to return in time for the Champion's Trophy in October.

Bond injured his right knee during the first Test against West Indies at Auckland in December 2005. He missed the first Test against South Africa at Centurion and returned home because he hadn't recovered sufficiently to play the next two. The swollen knee also spoilt his chances to play for Gloucestershire in the English domestic season. Bond was to join the county right after the South African tour.

But he remained optimistic about recovering in time for the Champions Trophy in India and was keen to play the World Cup in the West Indies next year. "I only feel it when I'm running around," Bond told Stuff.co.nz. "The bottom line is that it just comes down to rest and I just didn't have enough time over there to get it right. I'm philosophical because it's only minor. My main focus has always been to play in a World Cup and, if you look at the season ahead, you see a Champions Trophy, a VB series and a World Cup".

Bond reached 50 one-day wickets in just his 27th game, the fastest for New Zealand, but his career has been marred by injuries that few other fast bowlers had to endure. In 14 Tests, he took 64 wickets, with four five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul, at an average of 21.5.

"No longer I strive to be a tearaway bowler. I am a lot smarter bowler, who can bowl reasonably quick when I want to but I don't need to do it all the time," wrote Bond in a coulmn for Press Trust of India in August 2005. "Previously I was an emotional bowler who would just be fired up with the ball in his hand and try to bowl as hard as I could. Sustaining such methods throughout was a tough act to follow and sure the harder I tried, the more I opened myself to injury. Now I am smarter and can switch to speed because my energy levels are better spaced. It is also a good protection against injury."

Not being able to play for Gloucestershire will be a disappointment for Bond, not just for cricketing reasons. "Financially, it's going to hurt a little bit but the way I see it, if I get myself fit and have a good year coming up next season I will get that money back three-fold," said Bond. "But my priorities have always been with New Zealand cricket and an opportunity to play in the World Cup, so it was the right decision to withdraw [from Gloucestershire]."