Cricket: Bond test comeback may be on the cards

Shane Bond could soon be celebrating a test return. Photo / Greg Bowker

Shane Bond's return from the international cricket wilderness is imminent. So is Daryl Tuffey's and Lou Vincent's.

When he does so, Bond will join fellow fast bowler and good friend Tuffey in severing his ties with the ICL - and could, in theory, be playing for New Zealand in August.

Tuffey has been offered a termination in the past week and, after consulting with lawyers, has accepted it. Vincent, who signed in February last year, is also understood to have turned his back on the troubled league.

Although he is almost certain to follow suit, the process surrounding Bond could take a little longer.

It has been widely speculated that he would have to do so by today to meet the BCCI's May 31 deadline but that is not the case.

"The May 31 deadline only applies to Shane in terms of the Champions League," said Leanne McGoldrick, Bond's manager.

"That does not really affect him, as Canterbury have not qualified. The only way it could possibly impact on him would be if he was to take up a county contract this winter and I would think it unlikely he would consider such an offer anyway."

Bond and McGoldrick have been in communication with the Indian Cricket League in recent days and it now seems likely that he will terminate his contract with the "rebel" league.

The New Zealand Cricket Board meets soon to discuss policy around reinstatement and if they decide there will be no "cooling" period, the whims of the selectors will remain the only impediment to his return to national colours.

When contacted yesterday, Bond said "nothing has happened yet", in terms of finding a resolution with the ICL, which has run into financial difficulties and owes several players (including Bond) money.

Players' association manager Heath Mills said terminating contracts would, in all likelihood, mean they never get what was fully owed to them but the flipside is if they remain with the league, there is no guarantee of any cricket, with tournaments having already been postponed.

Bond is itching to play.

"I am hoping something will happen soon," he said. "My training is going really well and I want to get back into it."

That alone gives some indication that Bond is leaning heavily towards immediate termination of his ICL contract.

It remains to be seen whether Bond, or any of the so-called "rebels", will be named on the list of NZC's 20 centrally contracted players, due to be announced at the end of June.

The contracts are determined by what the selectors feel the player will contribute in the next 12 months but that also takes into account last year's form.

Bond obviously has none of the latter and when spoken to last month by this newspaper, both NZC and the Players' Association indicated it was probably too soon for him to be granted a contract.

Not having a central contract does not impact on selection though. Last year, several players, including Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill and Brendon Diamanti, were picked for New Zealand without a retainer.

Technically, Bond, Tuffey and co could be available as early as New Zealand's tour to Sri Lanka in August, if the selectors deem them worthy of a spot in the touring squad.

Tuffey, had he not been ruled out though his ICL links, had a compelling case for selection last season.

Playing for Auckland in the State Championship, he took 27 wickets at 22.37, finishing the season particularly strongly.

Bond's international credentials need no further examination. There is, however, believed to be some opposition at board level of allowing a swift return for those who signed with the ICL.

NZC CEO Justin Vaughan said, through a text sent by a spokesman late Friday night, that the board would meet next week to set policy on reinstatement.

"As yet there has been no decision on a stand-down period and selection would be based on merit."

Along with the above mentioned, former New Zealand allrounder Andre Adams, who now plays as a "Kolpak" player for Nottinghamshire, is on the verge of accepting a release from the ICL as well.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the ICL has accepted the resignations of Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq, paving the way for their return to Pakistan's tour of Sri Lanka which starts in late June.

Sri Lanka Cricket decided that their ICL players, including former captain Marvan Atapattu, would serve a three-month cooling period before being considered for selection or jobs within SLC.