Bond's comeback trail put on hold

Shane Bond's bad luck with injuries continued when a scan revealed another stress fracture in his back, and put his international career in doubt.

Bond, 29, has only appeared in 10 Tests and 27 one-dayers, and has not played any international cricket since May 2003. With this latest news, it will be a while until he plays again - if at all.

"Shane is now considering the options given to him by his surgeon," said Leanne McGoldrick, Bond's manager. "One of those is surgery and that seems his most likely option at this stage. He just wants to take a few days to think things over. His other option is to give the injury complete rest to allow it to heal, before he starts rehabilitation."

Bond flew with the New Zealand Test squad to England earlier this year, but despite playing in a few warm-up games, he did not play in any of the three Tests and flew home early. He was sorely missed as New Zealand went down 3-0, and they are likely to miss him even more with such a busy schedule ahead of them. He has already been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy in England this September, and is now almost certain to miss the tours of Bangladesh and Australia later this year