 Bond is one of the few bowlers to reach 90mph conisistently |
New Zealand's injury-prone star fast bowler Shane Bond has been cleared of what was potentially a career-ending stress fracture of the spine. Bond had to leave the field suffering back pain on Tuesday in Hobart during New Zealand's loss to England in the one-day Australian tri-series.
Bond, with 99 wickets in 53 one-day internationals, has been sidelined several times with stress fractures.
But scans of his back in Sydney on Thursday revealed no major problem.
Team manager Lindsay Crocker said: "We've been down this path with him before, had bone scans, and it's a big exhalation of air for Shane and all of us when we know it's not that dreaded stress fracture.
The cause of the 31-year-old's injury remains unknown.
"We will need to wait for a couple more days for the injury to settle before introducing him to increased workloads," Crocker said.
"How he reacts to these workloads will dictate his return to playing or if further investigation is required."
Bond, who took a hat-trick against Australia last weekend, is unlikely to play when the two sides meet again in the tri-series on Sunday.
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