For Shane Bond, success and unfulfillment

John Greenleaf Whittier was not thinking of sport when we wrote that "of all sad words of tongue and pen / The saddest are these, 'It might have been.' "

His words, though, are highly applicable to sport. It is a world in which failure to fulfill potential is peculiarly palpable. We can all think of the "can't-miss kids" who did precisely that, or teams who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

A sense of just such disappointment attaches to Shane Bond, the cricketer whose international career may have ended with the cancellation of his contract this week by the New Zealand Cricket Board.

Bond, 32, is certainly not a sporting failure. He played in 17 five-day test matches and 67 one-day internationals for New Zealand, also appearing in the pioneering Twenty20 World Cup last year. He took 79 test wickets and 125 in one-dayers. He is currently rated seventh in world rankings for test bowlers - he has been as high as third - and second in one-dayers.

Yet there could have been so much more. Bond has missed more matches than he played for New Zealand. It played 44 tests and 148 one-day internationals between his first and last appearances.

He was not let down by character or intelligence, but his body - at once the greatest asset and the great enemy of the top-class sportsman. The physique that gave him the rare gift of propelling a cricket ball accurately at speeds of more than 90 miles per hour was unable to sustain this ability over long periods, and he suffered injury after injury.

It was a profound frustration to New Zealand. With the narrowest playing base of the 10 test-playing nations other than currently suspended Zimbabwe, it overachieves by competing successfully in the middle ranks in tests and regularly reaching the semifinals in one-day World Cups.

Bond offered New Zealand the chance of being something more. If he had been available regularly, he could have transformed it from competitor to contender. Given the spearhead represented by a truly high-class paceman, its bowling would have been formidable. Without him, finger-spinner Daniel Vettori and a clutch of competent fast-medium bowlers represent a group to respect rather than fear.

With Bond on the team, New Zealand won 9 tests out of 17 and drew 6 of the others, a success rate of more than 70 percent. His only defeats came in his last two matches for New Zealand. Without him it won 8 matches, drew 7 and lost 13, a success rate barely above 40 percent.

If the contrast is not quite so spectacular in one-dayers, it is still clear Bond made a difference. New Zealand won 38 out of 67 matches when he was playing, but only 35 out of 81 when he was not there. Where some good players shrivel against the Australians, the world's most dangerous opponents and winners of the last three World Cups, Bond blossomed. In 11 one-dayers against them, he took 34 wickets at an average of fewer than 14 runs apiece, including a spell of 6 wickets for 23 in a World Cup match at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 2003.

That history of injuries also explains why Bond opted to sign a contract with the rebel Indian Cricket League. At nearly 33 he is old for a paceman, and the ICL offered a chance to make serious money from his talents before it is too late.

In cricket, opportunities to make money depend heavily on your nationality. If you want to be a multimillionaire, you pretty much have to be Indian. Rewards for New Zealanders are commensurate with what you would expect from a nation of four million people where rugby is all-powerful.

Bond's ICL contract is reported to be three times what he is paid by the New Zealand Cricket Board, with a clause guaranteeing his income even if he is injured. The board was eager to retain his services, but it is committed with other cricket ruling bodies to supporting its Indian counterpart in its battle against the rebel competition.

Given Bond's history and age, it is hard to blame him for seizing what must have looked like a late one-off chance. The New Zealand board has been at pains to stress that it is not ruling out a return. One suspects, though, that both he and his nation's officials will watch next month's three-test series against England - against whom Bond has never played a test - with regrets over what might have been.

Source : http://www.iht.com/

Cricket-Bond axed from New Zealand team after signing with ICL

Fast bowler Shane Bond has had his contract with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) terminated after the player signed for the rebel Twenty20 Indian Cricket League (ICL).

The two parties cancelled the contract by mutual consent, New Zealand Cricket said in a statement on Monday, adding that the door had been left open for Bond to represent his country again in the future.

NZC was forced to comply with International Cricket Council regulations which prevented contracted players from taking part in the non-sanctioned ICL, chief executive Justin Vaughan said.

"At some stage in the future we may be able to welcome Shane back into the Black Caps; either when he is no longer playing for the ICL or when that competition does not exist," Vaughan said.

The 32-year-old Bond has taken 79 wickets in 17 tests at an average of 22.39 in an injury-plagued career.

An automatic selection for the team when fit, Bond is regarded as New Zealand's best fast bowler since the retirement of Richard Hadlee.

Bond said in a statement he was sympathetic to NZC's efforts to retain his services and hoped to represent his country again in the future.

Rumours had swirled in the local media for weeks that Bond had signed with the ICL and Vaughan had previously said he was hopeful the bowler would be available for the home series against England beginning on Feb. 5.

After penning a three-year contract, Bond becomes the seventh New Zealand cricketer to sign with the ICL.

All-rounders Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, Chris Harris and Craig McMillan have all retired from international cricket while batsman Hamish Marshall and bowler Daryl Tuffey have been overlooked by selectors in recent times.

Source : http://uk.reuters.com/

Lalit Modi warns Kiwi cricketers joining ICL

A top Indian cricket board official has warned overseas players joining the breakaway tournaments like the Indian Cricket League (ICL) of serious repercussions, raising the question whether they have “safeguards to protect against match-fixing”.”To have a credible tournament one must not just look at the money but, more importantly, whether the competition is sanctioned, whether it’s going to have the (necessary) infrastructure, whether it’s going to be around for a while, and whether it’s investing in the growth of the game - or just profiting from it,” Lalit Modi, a vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told Sun Herald.

“Do they have enough safeguards to protect against match-fixing? Do they have the right officials - such as match referees and umpires - and do they have the appropriate rules involving anti-doping policies and playing guidelines?” asked Modi, who is also chairman and commissioner of the BCCI-sanctioned Indian Premier League (ICL), a Twenty20 competition created to challenge the ICL.

Modi, also head of the BCCI’s marketing sub-committee, was speaking on the ongoing fight between New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the New Zealand players association over the contractual dispute. Seven Kiwi players - Shane Bond, Daryl Tuffey, Hamish Marshall, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns and Chris Harris - have signed for ICL and some of them still want to play for New Zealand.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan has already directed his selectors to overlook the rebels who have signed with the ICL.

Modi defended the launch of IPL.

“We have all decided that in the interests of development … we will try as far as legally possible to discourage our players from joining any rebel league that is organised just for self-profit,” he said.

“The BCCI and the other Test-playing nations are non-profit organisations. They invest 100 percent of their earnings back into the game. This is essential to ensure we build the best infrastructure for the players and fans alike.”

Eight franchisees will play 59 matches in 44 days in the maiden IPL tournament from April 18.

The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis with seven matches being played at home. The top four franchisees in the league will contest the semi-finals and the victorious semi finalists will meet in the final. All matches will be played over the weekends.

Many top overseas players, like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Stephen Fleming, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Graeme Smith, Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Yousuf, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chaminda Vaas, Shaun Pollock, Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan will be seen in action in the IPL.

Source : http://www.cricket247.in/

Andre would love to be an Indian rebel

Snubbed Black Cap Andre Adams says he has no loyalty to New Zealand Cricket and has revealed he would accept an offer from the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Despite taking 29 wickets at an average of 8.3 during the opening four matches of the State Championship, Adams has been overlooked for the test team playing against Bangladesh.

Rather than pin his hopes on a return, Adams says he would scrap his international aspirations at the drop of a hat if an offer to join the ICL came his way.

“My phone is on and it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that if someone came knocking on my door with a large amount of cash I would sign up,’’ Adams told Sunday News last night.

“If they rang and offered me a contract, I would go.

“I don’t have any loyalty to New Zealand Cricket. I have done my bit for them and if it means I had to knock my aspirations of playing test cricket for New Zealand on the head, so be it.

“At this stage, I would love to go and play in the ICL.’’

Auckland team-mate Daryl Tuffey who plays in the ICL for the Chandigarh Lions has also been in talks with Adams about the competition.

"It sounds like an absolute blast. I haven't actually been to India yet so I would love to go," said Adams.

"There are a lot of people putting their hands up to go there so if it happens it happens."

The ICL has come under heavy fire in recent weeks with cricket boards throughout the world making moves to blackball players involved from playing international cricket again.

And Adams said that sort of attitude would do nothing but cheapen cricket at the highest level.

"The fact the ICL is a rebel competition doesn't concern me and it doesn't concern too many people for that matter," he said.

"I think the cricket authorities in every country need to have a good, hard look at themselves and see that they are going to lose the majority of their decent players.

"It's probably even more the case in New Zealand because we just don't get paid very well.

"You can't expect someone like Shane Bond to turn down $US800,000 just to play test cricket and then get injured and be out for three months of the year.

"I'm not going to get offered $800,000 but if someone came along and offered me $250,000, why would you turn that down?

"You'd have absolutely no reason because New Zealand Cricket is not going to guarantee you that sort of money.

"People can say what they want about turning on your mates and that kind of stuff but it's a job and you should be looking to earn as much money in it while you can."

Although his focus remains on succeeding in four-day cricket, Adams said he would have no concerns about playing Twenty20 cricket for a living.

"I don't doubt that I can play one-dayers and Twenty20 cricket well, I just prefer the longer version of the game," he said. "I quite like Twenty20 cricket and I thoroughly enjoyed playing for Auckland. I had a couple of goes for Essex and loved it.

"If I got the chance I would go and I think my wife would slap me if I turned down $250,000."

Meanwhile, Adams said he wasn't shocked to hear he hadn't made the Caps test squad for the series against Bangladesh. But rather than slam the selectors' choices, he admitted he agreed with most of their decisions.

"It wasn't really a surprise," he said.

"If I was Michael Mason or Iain O'Brien and I had been sitting on the sidelines I'd have been very disappointed if I had been dropped for someone who hasn't played test cricket in a while.

"Whether I get a chance will depend on selectors, form and injury."

Source : http://www.stuff.co.nz/

PCB may send Yousuf to Mumbai

Pakistan cricket Board is likely to send senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf and their legal advisor to appear before an arbitration panel in Mumbai on January 24 to discuss a petition moved by the rebel Indian Cricket League against the batsman.

The Chairman of the board said on Friday that a representative of the board would certainly attend the arbitration hearing in Mumbai, but if possible Yousuf might also be sent to defend himself.

The arbitration panel headed by a retired judge has declared Yousuf ineligible to play for the official Indian Premier League of the Indian cricket Board as the ICL claims the batsman first signed a contract with them and also took an advance fee before going back on his contract and commitment.

It went to the arbitration panel to get a ruling but neither Yousuf nor the PCB representative attended the panel's initial hearing in which it gave a ruling against the batsman.

Ashraf said the arbitration panel had given its decision without hearing out Yousuf as such their ruling didn't hold much ground.

"As it is, an arbitration panel is not a court of law," he said.

But the PCB chief said Pakistan had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court asking that the ICL case against Yousuf could only be heard in Pakistan.

"We feel if there is a case against him it must be heard by a Pakistani court as he is a Pakistani player and if he signed any contract it was in Pakistan," Ashraf said.

But Ashraf in the same breath said the board was not on any confrontation path with the Pakistani players who had signed up for the ICL which is not recognised by the ICC or its member boards.

"Look we have nothing against these players. The first thing is we want any confrontation with them. But the bottom line is they signed to play for the ICL because they are getting good money by the ICL.

"They knew what they were doing when they signed their contracts. Our position is that the ICC does not recognize the ICL tournaments and we can't have different policies on it."

Ashraf said the day the ICC had no problems with the ICL the Pakistan board would also change its stance which had nothing to do with the Indian board.

He said the future of the ICL players would be discussed at a governing body meeting of the board on January 25.

Two of the ICL players, Imran Farhat and Taufiq Umar decided to go to court against the PCB decision to ban them from domestic cricket. But have decided to hold their petition till the governing body meeting although Ashraf claimed that the Lahore High Court had dismissed their petitions.

Source : http://inhome.rediff.com/

Bond's ICL move holds fears for cricket minnows

While former Australian batsman Dean Jones, the ICL's operations manager, yesterday insisted the unsanctioned Twenty20 league was not asking international players to break contracts, he also said it was not the ICL's problem if boards could not match the money it was offering.

Unless New Zealand Cricket can coax Bond back to the fold, he will reportedly receive about $600,000 to play in the ICL, which is close to three times the value of his national contract.

For a 32-year-old with an injury-prone body and a young family, the appeal of bowling four overs a game for such an inflated sum is understandable.

"It's not our responsibility what countries pay their players," Jones said. "Our brief is to give young, talented players in India an opportunity and try and put them in an environment where they can play against some international stars.

"We are not asking players to break contracts. We want them to play for their countries. But if someone wants to say, 'That's it, I want to play for the ICL for the next three or four years,' that's their choice. They can wait for their current contracts to expire or retire."

Bond is the most significant current player to choose the rebel competition over representing his country, since prolific Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf accepted the olive branch extended by his board.

Retired players Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and Daryl Tuffey have all signed with the ICL, which is in direct competition with the Board of Control for Cricket in India's own Indian Premier League, to which many of Australia's elite players are aligned.

Although international commitments are likely to keep the Australians from representing Indian Twenty20 franchises for the next two years, Cricket Australia might have to decide whether to allow them to play this April if the tour of Pakistan is cancelled for security reasons.

The three rebel Kiwis have been told by the BCCI that they cannot appear in a board-approved Bollywood movie being filmed in Australia this summer.

New Zealand are already struggling, having recently lost Test and one-day series to South Africa and been beaten 2-0 by Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee series.

The Black Caps are scheduled to visit in November for two Tests and five one-day internationals, and now appear highly unlikely to have their best paceman, who has a superb record against Australia, at their disposal.

While New Zealand Cricket has not said it will ban the rebel players, they are unlikely to represent their country again.

"It would be fair to say if he has signed we would prefer he didn't play in the [forthcoming] England series," chief executive Justin Vaughan told The Dominion Post.

"Even if he has signed with the ICL, we'd love to see if there was a way to get him out of that contract and we'll fund all the support to get him out of it, similar to what Pakistan has done with Mohammad Yousuf."

Source : http://www.stuff.co.nz/

Bond`s Future Still Unclear

New Zealand Cricket are continuing talks with Shane Bond over his future with the New Zealand national team.

The fast bowler is reportedly committed to a three-year deal with the Indian Cricket League, but remains tied to his existing NZC deal until May.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan has gone on record stating any player contracted to the ICL will not be called up for the Kiwi national team.

He said in a statement: "I shall be meeting with Shane and his representatives during the week as we move through a process.

"During the past week Shane has respected a request by NZC that he not discuss the issue publicly.

"We are in a process with Shane and there will be no comment by either party until that process has been completed."

The 32-year-old had already stated he was refusing to comment, although would not deny he had signed with the rebel competition.

Source : http://www.cricket365.com/