Shane Bond reveals fast bowling secrets

Shane Bond in action for the Black Caps. Photo / NZ Herald

Mild mannered Kiwi team mate Daniel Vettori was the man who helped the great New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond snap out of the bowling doldrums.

In a lengthy interview with CricInfo about T20 bowling tactics, Bond also revealed that he hated loads of team mates charging in with advice but Vettori had the magic touch.

"I had Daniel Vettori standing at mid-off a number of times and he would call it the glaze, where you'd get a glazed look in your eyes and you go quiet," said Bond. "He would come up to me and say 'you need to snap out of it'.

"There is a big difference (with that)...to five guys running over telling you where to bowl. I think the latter is not going to help the bowler. "

Bond is helping coach the Mumbai Indians in the IPL since quitting after a highly regarded stint as bowling advisor to New Zealand culminating in the dramatic World Cup campaign. Bond rated Lasith Malinga as the best T20 fast bowler but said the Sri Lankan was unique in his ability to bowl perfect yorkers and others had to be more inventive.

He also believes that bowlers have not worked hard enough to counter the massive advances in batting techniques.

"(one) challenge is understanding they have got to have the courage to either bowl length or short at the back end of the innings on some wickets, as opposed to default mode...just to bowl full," he said.

"The batting side of things has developed massively in the last five years and bowlers need to come up with tactics to counter that."

And Bond, a genuine paceman in his prime, doesn't favour bowlers retaliating with bouncers after they had been hit for boundaries, saying the short ball was best used against players who had just arrived at the crease.