David Leggat: The comeback Kiwi and the don't-come-back Aussie

David Leggat

In the space of about 12 hours late this week, one previously high-flying international cricket career took a substantial step towards revival, and another was placed in the round filing bin.

If you want a reminder of what Shane Bond meant to New Zealand, nip on to YouTube and have a squiz at him in his prime.

He had a particular fondness for playing Australia. His record against them in ODIs is phenomenal, 34 wickets in 11 games at 13.88 apiece.

You can also check out some of the glorious moments of Andrew Symonds' career: as leader of a spectacular fielding outfit, and a batsman who could make destruction of decent bowling attacks look indecently easy.

There's a good chance of seeing Bond marking out his runup again, perhaps as soon as New Zealand's tour of Sri Lanka around August, almost two years after his last test in Johannesburg.

We won't see Symonds pulling on the baggy green again, his latest breaking of team disciplines the final nail for Cricket Australia. The hammer has been hovering in mid-downswing for some time.

Are CA paying the price for being too lax on the boofhead banana bender? For sure, but equally certainly, having dumped Symonds from the world Twenty20 squad - and the off-field element that he brought - they will bolt the door behind him.

But back to Bond. Let's assume for a moment his contractual dealings with the Indian Cricket League franchise the Delhi Giants, are resolved to his satisfaction, and New Zealand Cricket's.

Bond is 34 tomorrow. He evidently wants to play all forms of cricket next season, having restricted himself to limited-overs competition last summer.

In his prime he could be devastatingly sharp. Close your eyes and think of Bond. The classic image is of a thunderous inswinger knocking over Australian stumps.

Will he still have the old zip? Nature has a way of providing answers to questions like that but the word is he's still pretty sharp.

That will provide a welcome point of difference from a group of bowlers hurling the leather at roughly the same, unthreatening pace. Bond will need to prove himself to the selectors. They aren't about to pick him on reputation. Nor should they.

Last season, a prominent New Zealand coach watched Bond in a couple of 50-over matches in which the opposition included a mix of most of the country's leading fast-medium men.

So how did he look? Streets ahead, came the reply. Daylight second.

Expectations will inevitably be high. But how long will Bond have back at the top? Most likely a couple of years, provided his old nemesis, injuries, stay away.

The public reaction will be interesting. There will inevitably be a school of thought that he placed his chips and must live with that. But there are times when the need to move ahead is paramount.

There's one other thing about Bond. Most people are capable of engendering a variety of emotions depending on one's dealings with them.

Talk to those who know him and you won't hear a bad word. The picture is clear: a straight-as-a-die man with a stubborn, honourable streak to him.

He gave his word to the ICL way back then and stood by it. More malleable types might have weaseled away.

Once he sorts out the paperwork, plans for life again with Bond can begin in earnest. Then things will get interesting.