Cricket: Bond to have surgery on his back

1.00pm

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond will attempt to resurrect his cricket career by undergoing surgery on a stress fracture in his back.

Bond said he was left with no choice but to have the operation, set for August 19, as other attempts to rehabilitate from ongoing back problems had not worked.

He was forced home midway through the recent Black Caps tour of England because of a recurrence of back pain and a scan last week confirmed the presence of another stress fracture.

Bond said if the operation went well he would still need at least three months to recover but was hopeful of returning to cricket after Christmas.

"I've exhausted all the other avenues," Bond told Radio Sport.

"I had a period of rest and allowed it time to heal but that didn't work.

"And I altered my technique to a point where I thought it was pretty good but that still hasn't worked either."

The operation would involve taking a graft from his hip and melding that to the troublesome fifth lumbar vertebrae with bolts and titanium wire. That would be followed by at least a six-week period of rest.

"It's a bit scary when you start hearing about bolts and wire going into your back but I suppose it's part of being a sportsman," Bond said.

"If I have this operation and it doesn't work then at least I know I'd given it everything."

He may be able to swim and bike in early October, with the earliest return to running and bowling being mid-November.

"Conservatively, I'm looking at four months out. I'm looking at playing again over Christmas. I'd definitely like to think I'll be back at some stage over summer."

Bond will miss the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in England in September and New Zealand's tours of Bangladesh and Australia later this year, and Sri Lanka's tour to New Zealand in December-January.

His chances of playing against Australia when they tour New Zealand in February-March next year must also be slim.

Bond, 29, has been battling back problems since May last year when he first suffered a stress fracture on tour in Sri Lanka.

He nursed himself through that injury and was on the point of playing at international level last December when the injury flared again.

After undergoing a rigorous rehabilitation programme, he was fit in time to join the New Zealand team on their tour of England starting in May.

He played in warm-up county matches but experienced more back pain before the first test and returned home.

Bond said in England he felt a jarring in his back but most pain came after he cooled down. He could probably bowl through the pain but would struggle to reach the speeds upwards of 145km/h which made him a threat at test level.

" That's my role in the team and that's what I want to do. If I can't bowl at that pace then I don't want to do it," he said.

He wasn't surprised to hear the diagnosis of another stress fracture last week. However, it was disappointing, given the effort he had put into his fitness and altering his technique.

"You do get a little bit down in the dumps but this surgery has given me a ray of hope."

Bond said the surgeons he had spoken to did not know of another fast bowler to have undergone the same operation but he was buoyed by South African internet reports he had read. There were several examples of bowlers there who had successfully returned to domestic or first class cricket after the same procedure.

New Zealand high jumper Glenn Howard had competed at the Sydney Olympic Games after undergoing the operation, Bond added.

"There's risk with all operations but you weigh those risks up," he said.

"There's a risk that I won't get back bowling the way I was (but) it will give me piece of mind doing this, however it turns out. "

Bond said the prospect of quitting had not entered his mind.

"I still know I'm the quickest bowler in the country and I haven't played a lot of cricket over the course of my career," he said.

"I've got a good attitude and still love the game so for me it wasn't an option."

Bond has taken 43 wickets in 10 tests.

- NZPA