Cricket: Paceman's bond with team to continue

Shane Bond has a clear idea of what he wants to do. Picture / Getty Images

Just two years removed from being New Zealand's attacking spearhead, Shane Bond has taken the role of national bowling coach.

The 37-year-old was yesterday anointed the successor to Australian Damien Wright, as the re-New Zealandification of New Zealand Cricket continues.

Bond was considered New Zealand's finest fast bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee, but injury and a wrangle with the national body restricted him to 18 tests, 82, ODIs and 20 T20s for his country. Now his job will be distilling and maximising the talent of New Zealand's next generation of bowlers.

"I love watching cricket; I've always been analytical ... the past couple of years have been all about preparing myself to perhaps have the opportunity to take this role."

Bond acknowledged that it might be "a little bit strange" for some of the players who had spent time as his teammate, but "I don't see it as a big deal ... It's about clarity for me. I have a very clear idea about what I want to do and it's about getting buy-in from those guys".

Bond will be a stickler for detail and preparation. Apart from his first tour as an impressionable greenhorn to Australia in 2001-02, Bond rarely socialised, preferring the solitude of his hotel room where he would plot against opposition batsmen.

Bond rarely came home with the best tour stories, but he often had the most wickets. Realistically, he will know that touring lifestyle would not be everybody's cup of camomile, but he will try to instil a sense of professional pride into his charges.

"I understand that it is their careers and they will have a way they want to get about their work," he said. "As a coach it is just about challenging those ideas and pushing the guys so they can reach their potential."

Bond is entering at a time when there is genuine excitement about New Zealand's seam bowling stocks, with Doug Bracewell, 22, Trent Boult and Tim Southee, both 23, and Adam Milne expected to play a big part in a hoped-for revival of New Zealand's international fortunes.

Bond's first assignment will be in Sri Lanka, starting with a T20 international on October 30.