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Cricket boss Justin Vaughan will meet star fast bowler Shane Bond on Tuesday in a last-ditch attempt to keep New Zealand's biggest name in the national side.
And Vaughan, determined to hang on to New Zealand's best fast bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee, will offer help with legal expenses to get Bond out of his contract with the rebel Indian Cricket League - as Pakistan's board did with batsman Mohammad Yousuf - and steer him towards a deal with the rival, and officially favoured, Indian Premier League.
Bond has signed an US$800,000 ($1.037 million) contract to join the Twenty20 ICL for three years. That would count him out of the New Zealand team under New Zealand Cricket's policy of asking the national selectors of preferring they pick players other than those who join the ICL.
The IPL is being set up by the Indian board, a member of the International Cricket Council which is strongly opposed to the rebel competition, in which six other New Zealanders played last month.
Vaughan said last night NZC understood Bond has signed a contract, "although we haven't had official confirmation".
The injury-plagued Bond hoped to be fit for the England tour starting next month. Vaughan confirmed if Bond has signed with the ICL he won't be facing England. However, he did not necessarily see that as the end of the 32-year-old's New Zealand career.
"We certainly don't want to close the door on Shane," Vaughan said.
His view is that international cricket is changing rapidly. "There's a whole bunch of scenarios and making a definitive statement about what our position will be in a year's time is impossible." He sympathised with Bond's position and insisted there is no ill-will towards the player.
If NZC allowed Bond to go, then return to play for New Zealand, it would be out of step with the rest of the ICC nations. It would also open a can of worms, with other New Zealand players known to be eyeing potential contract opportunities. Five leading players have been signed to play in the IPL, which is mooted to start in April but still shrouded in mystery.
