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Bonding with Shane

How do you identify great cricketers? They tell you. They tell you through their movements. Their speed. Their love for the game and the way they make the batters go numb.

Shane Bond was fast. Well, not furious. He was mostly shy. But he was frustratingly fragile. Most of us didn’t see Sir Richard Hadlee bowl, but through Shane, a bond was created. He was nothing like Hadlee, well, that man was a legend, but he was equally effective.

Richard Hadlee’s brother Dayle Hadlee once had a glimpse of this teenage bowler while having Tea nearby. The teenage got himself a scholarship. Having said that, you can put Bond under late bloomer as he debuted for Canterbury at 21. And no, he didn’t bloom immediately there too. He had quite seasons in the beginning. He then lost a year of cricket as he went from chasing the stumps to chasing the bad men. He was a cop. He waited for the summers and would play cricket. In 2000-2001 season, he came back. Maybe, the shy kid needed a break and kicking some bad men made him strong to kick some stumps. The unspectacular years were behind him now as Bond was solid this time. He played for New Zealand A that toured India. He was solid once again. That led to his selection, thus #216 was born.

If you are in 2020 and is searching for his debut, I tell you, the numbers lie. He wasn’t that good, I admit, but he was taking on one of the best Australian line ups, and he was able to get past their bat. It’s an accomplishment. This doesn’t happen with everyone. Though Australians were keen enough to play him out and did not lose wickets, the fear was real, and any bowler would take it.

Bond then played Bangladesh in the interim before his ODI debut, and that series was eventful for his confidence.

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2002 VB series. Bond showed why he fits at the top.

Right before his debut, Chris Cairns had a conversation with him on what he wanted to achieve. Bond was too shy even to dream. He wanted just to be a good bowler and to represent his team. Cairns knew it back then what Bond is made of and how his mindset was letting him down. He asked him to dream big. He asked him to become the greatest, the number one bowler. Bond laughed it off. He didn’t believe he could be one. Again, he just was too shy. At least it was not until VB series.

It was a great morning as New Zealand was getting ready to take on Australia, who doesn’t love it when the arch-rivals meet?

In his debut match, the world would have realized that he is something else. Defending a modest total of 199, New Zealand needed special skills to stop the Australians. Then Bond came. Conquered. He dismissed Mark Waugh in the first over, then Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan fell for his prey, Australia fell a few runs short of the total. That was his arrival.

Now, everyone has their own way of fighting the nervousness. Some chews gum. Some doesn’t sleep at night. Some have a different bowel moment. And for Bond, he threw up after his breakfast. That was his routine to fight against his nervousness, well, most of the days. Some days, he pats his back and tells himself that he belongs to the higher stage, well, that is for later.

Now, Bond was throwing up. He was about to play a match against Australia, the men who don’t give away anything. But then, the match had something else for Bond.

Thanks to the batters, New Zealand had a good total to defend this time. After some patient bowling and brilliant fielding, New Zealand began well.

Bond with some generous pace bowling exploited Ponting’s desire for a drive, got him out with an outswinger. Then frustrated Martyn who forced himself trying to go over the point. Now, the best ball of the summer was the inswinging yorker that he bowled to dismiss Gilchrist. Then he cleared the last men dancing on the floors, Bichel and Gillespie. He ended up with 5/25. The delivery to Gilchrist was everything.

And there started his love for picking up injuries. Welcome, Foot injury.

There is something about Australia that brought the best out of Bond. This time it was during the 2003 World Cup, a tournament that was unforgettable for Bond. He was good throughout but this match where he took 6 for 23 was unthinkable.

Bond was angry. He was pissed off with Fleming for not choosing to bat first. He had to put back his boots and asked, “What the hell was going on?”. He took that anger to the field. Now, the first over he bowled was rubbish. Then everything happened too fast. Hayden edged one to McCullum, Gilchrist followed soon with LBW. Ponting, who was in the process of becoming Bond’s bunny, frustratingly marched forward, edged one to Fleming. That was a priced victim. Then Martyn edged and caught behind. Bond’s 150-odd yorker crushed Hogg’s boot. Harvey’s middle stump was uprooted. He looked at the scoreboard that flashed 6 for 23. However, his team lost that match.
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Injuries loved him more or otherwise. 2003, he had a stress fracture. That required surgery. Followed by a Spinal fusion surgery where they literally wired his back. Then he had knee and abdominal injury. Throughout his career. He was too selfish to his body, and this was a man who was pushing his limits to follow his dream. Despite injuries, he kept coming back.

His action contributed to most of his injuries. He wasn’t landing right, his back wasn’t supporting him, his shoulders troubled him, his hands were letting him down. This man had a brittle body but a pretty action though.

Bond did have a beautiful style. Those loose jerseys, the wrist band and his hair went hand in hand with his action. Bouncy approach with his hair dancing, he had a fluid motion with a tilted hand. He was as fast as Lee but also as graceful as McGrath. A pretty jump and a grunt were out there too.

After all this time, Bond was injuring himself with his action. He crushed his body as much as he can. Even his surgeon didn’t want Bond to continue bowling but this man, though, never listened.
He had different techniques to cope up, and he kept coming back.

He was broken, repaired, remade, broken again, Reengineered. During his comebacks, he even changed his action a bit. His pace slowed down yet he was effective.

While his injuries and surgeries ate half of his career, ICL took a few years too.
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He did not spare any of his opponents, well, literally. Days after his 10-fer against Zimbabwe in the Test, he rattled India. Ganguly protected his rib cage by throwing his bat, edged to McCullum, Venugopal had no clue what was coming, Dravid misjudged Bond and the bounce, watched the ball hit the stumps, Kaif said hello to Macmillan at the third man with the ball, Sehwag drove right into the hands of Marshall. Pathan who crossed his fifty saw his partners go one by one. Bond overpowered him too, later. He ended up with 6 for 19.
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Bond was soft to be a pacer. He never sledged. His send-off was pretty simple. He never gave an earful. He smiled at the batters when they scored runs. He was just too cool to pull off an aggressive celebration.

There were a few people whom we love and would love to see them do great. Not just good but great. Bond would always top that list and would always be remembered as the second-best bowler of Blackcaps and the man who made Australians cry.