Cricket: The trouble with Bondy is there's only one of him

Never mind the back injury, Nathan Astle reckons the biggest problem with Shane Bond is that there's only one of him.

Bond, 31, New Zealand's fastest bowler since Gary Bartlett, was in the news for all the wrong reasons this week after breaking down with what was initially thought to be a career-ending fracture in a vertebra.

But subsequent scans have suggested the problem is more tissue-related than anything to do with his already suspect back, which is these days held together by a combination of titanium wire and bone splints.

The encouraging diagnosis would have come as an enormous relief for Bond, given he suffered his first three stress-fracture injuries before he was 18, and is more or less resigned to the fact that the next will be his last.

Astle, one of New Zealand's most senior batsmen, has watched the fast-bowler's troubled career unfold from his traditional position at second slip, and believes there's no simple answer to the conundrum.

But he does think that Bond's excellence has invited extra attention over his injury record, simply because there's no one else in the country who is anywhere near filling his shoes.

"Maybe he stands out a lot more than others because of our lack of genuine fast-bowling depth," said Astle. "If we lose Bondy we really miss him because our next quickest bowler is about 10km/h slower.

"Other countries will lose a Simon Jones or a Brett Lee or a Shoaib Akhtar, but will be able to call in replacements who have just as much pace.

"We just saw that happen with Pakistan. Despite losing Shoaib and Asif, their two replacements were still bowling around the 140km/h mark and were able to fulfil their roles in a pretty impressive fashion. We don't have that depth, so when someone of Bondy's pace is unavailable, we notice it far more."

Astle said he couldn't help thinking about the short-lived careers of former New Zealand bowlers Geoff Allott and Dion Nash, who were eventually forced from the game by a succession of stress-fracture problems.

Both pacemen verged on being obsessive about their fitness and couldn't have done anything more to improve their chances of becoming injury-free and playing out their careers.

And Astle knows himself about the frustration that can creep in during injury lay-offs, having been sidelined for extended periods after surgery on both knees.

"Watching Geoff and Dion being forced to give it away taught me that a person can only take so much - because those two would've worked as hard as any other sportsman on their fitness.

"They kept doing the work and the injuries kept recurring until they each got to the stage where they knew their bodies were trying to tell them something."

He rejected suggestions that New Zealand bowlers suffered more back injuries than others, and said most of the early arguments concerning practising indoors or on other unforgiving surfaces had since been disproved.

Australians such as Dennis Lillee, Bruce Reid, Craig McDermott and Glenn McGrath had all had their share of back problems, as had Pakistanis Waqar Younis, Mohammad Sami and England's Jones and James Anderson.

"I think it's purely the luck of the draw when it comes to a lot of individual injuries," said Astle. "I don't think there's any blanket explanation for the injuries our bowlers suffer."

Ominously, Astle said the one factor that might now start working against Bond was his age, as he was getting to a stage where his body would not mend quite as fast, and would become more vulnerable with each setback.

"There's always a light at the end of the tunnel during these injury breaks but there's also the cold, hard knowledge that people like Bondy and myself aren't getting any younger." * Central Districts batsman Ross Taylor is headed to the Champions Trophy tournament as cover for injured New Zealand allrounder Scott Styris.

The 22-year-old middle-order batsman flies to India today as a precaution though he cannot officially join the Black Caps tour party until Styris is ruled out and returns home.

Shane Bond

* Age: 31

* ODIs: 45

* Wickets: 87

* Best: 6/19 v India, Bulawayo, 2005

* 5-wicket bags: 3

* ODI Bowler Rankings: 3rd