Shane Bond's retirement from all forms of cricket prompted Andrew Alderson to relate his favourite personal memory of one of our most evocative cricketers.
Never have free tickets held more value. It was the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Port Elizabeth, South Africa and Shane Bond was being, well, Shane Bond.
He was bowling quickly, very quickly. Australia were batting and they weren't enjoying it much. We were enjoying it hugely. Bond was putting the
acid on the Aussies.
Mrs Alderson and I were backpacking around South Africa at the 2003 World Cup. We'd emailed New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent, a fellow member of Grafton United Cricket Club, to see if he could snaffle a couple of freebies for the New Zealand-Australia super six match.
It was a long shot but - with a bit of fast-talking to the hotel concierge - two heavily embossed slips of paper emerged from his breast pocket and into our hands.
We were on our way to St George's Park. Little did we know they would be corporate box tickets looking down the wicket. All we wanted was to get in for as cheap as possible on a shoestring budget.
Even better, our arrival coincided with the third over. Shane Bond's easy-paced, rhythmic run-up was always a pleasure to watch, as was the brief pause to plant the back foot, before he swivelled his back and shoulders to unleash thunderbolts through the crease - often in the150km/h bracket.
The second ball of the over: Matthew Hayden edged behind. Next over it was Adam Gilchist thumped LBW. By his fifth over, the ninth of the innings, Bond had Ricky Ponting edging to slip. Australia was rocked; 31 for 3.
His return for a final four-over spell had Australia reeling again. Damien Martyn was caught behind in the 25th over then Brad Hogg was plumb LBW next ball. Ian Harvey was skittled in Bond's next over, his ninth. There was no respite, he just chainsawed through them.
Australia, previously unbeaten at the tournament were 84 for 7 heading into the 28th over. Bond only bowled two spells that day but finished with New Zealand's then-best one-day figures of 6 for 23. It was a time to rejoice for New Zealand fans. It was a time to recognise a spectacular cricketing achievement, irrespective of nationality.
Sadly, as many stories tend to end for the Black Caps, Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel took Australia to 208 for nine against 23 more Bond-less overs and New Zealand crashed out for 112. But it was just a taste of what Bond was capable of; a phrase which seemed to sum up his career.
What if? is a question cricket historians will debate years from now regarding Bond. He was New Zealand's best bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee in all forms of the game. Yet he played in such a small percentage of those matches between 2001-10.
His impact - and absence - has been telling during that period. New Zealand won a greater percentage of games in all formats but those figures are accentuated in tests. With Bond, New Zealand won 56 per cent of its matches (10/18) and - perhaps just as significantly - lost 11 per cent (2/18). Without Bond, the Black Caps won only 31 per cent of matches (20/65) and lost 38 per cent (25/65).
His mere presence was enough to drag people to the ground or anchor them to the couch. National cricketing success was always more likely.
Nothing illustrates that better than strike rate. Bond took a test wicket every 38.7 balls. That is the best by a New Zealander, ahead of Jack Cowie (45) and Hadlee (50.8).
While that already makes it an outstanding feat, it is also the third best in all test history for recognised bowlers. Bond is only surpassed by George Lohmann and John Ferris who played Ashes tests in the 19th century. His closest rivals in the modern era are South Africa's Dale Steyn and Pakistan's Waqar Younis.
Bond also has New Zealand's second best average in tests - behind Cowie but ahead of Hadlee. He dismissed a batsman every 22.09 runs conceded but unfortunately his 87 wickets in 18 tests don't give his career the lustre it deserves.
If you extrapolate that out to the 65 tests the Black Caps played in the Bond era it would account for 314 wickets. To put that in perspective, Daniel Vettori currently has 325 wickets in 100 tests.
Fortunately those who were at Dunedin's University Oval for the final day of the first test against Pakistan in November were given a brief illustration of Bond's capability, asking brusque questions and receiving few answers from an opposition line-up, on his way to eight wickets for the match.
That wasn't quite what fans expected when he entered the side anonymously as a policeman off the beat in Christchurch years ago. His initial calling card was a surname that had reports citing him as 'Bond, Shane Bond' ad nauseam in reference to his more famous on-screen namesake.
His first - and sadly only - two tests against Australia in 2001 proved tame affairs, despite New Zealand performing well in the drawn series.
Bond finished with figures of 1 for 135 and 2 for 154 from those tests but performed strongly against Bangladesh at home as an entree to his famed VB series in January and February.
In that, he proceeded to rip the Australian line-up apart in the opening match at the MCG, dismissing Mark Waugh, Ponting and Bevan to take three for 53, and help New Zealand defend 199. From there his reputation was set as a pace bowler.
His list of regular casualties included Chris Gayle, Brian Lara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist and, perhaps most notably, Ponting in seven of their 15 one-day contests.
In fact one-day matches against Australia was where Bond excelled most, taking 44 wickets at 15.79. Even opposition fans and players held him in the highest regard.
However, just as there was no successor to Hadlee, there is no heir to the Bond dynasty.
New Zealand fans face some lean cricketing days in his absence.
