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WHEN Shane Bond made his debut for New Zealand in the Test series against Australia eight years ago, he was like a whiff of fresh air for a team that seemed forever deprived of a genuine fast bowler. Bond ran in hard and bowled quick, quicker than anyone in the world at one time. And then it all started going wrong. Unable to cope with the demands of international cricket, Bond crumbled.

A spate of injuries — a sore back at times, hurting knees at others, pulled hamstrings and twisted ankles — forced him out of action whenever he regained a semblance of fitness. Here was a bowler that New Zealand hoped would carry them on their back, but Bond’s fitness failed to match those expectations. As Ishant Sharma begins his career, Bond — who has retired from international cricket and is here to play in the ICL — speaks on what the fast bowler should be craving for. Excerpts:

From what you’ve seen or heard about Ishant Sharma, what is your assessment?
Ishant looks like a terrific prospect. To go and bowl at more than 150 kmph on your first overseas tour is never easy, and to be successful against Australia in Australia is even better. I remember when I made my debut in Australia, bowling just fast wasn’t enough, you had to do more than that to battle against them, be consistent, bowl the right lines. Ishant was very good in Perth. He is tall and that’s really good.

Your own career began as an exceptional fast bowler, but then the injuries cropped up. How do you see the last eight years in retrospect?
To be very frank, had I understood the secret of fitness early on in my career, things would have been very different. I would have had a better chance to resurrect all that had been going wrong if I’d realised it when I was 26, not 31.
My body wasn’t able to cope with the demands. The New Zealand team has an exceptional support staff but I needed to work a lot more on my energy, my strengths. The injuries kept recurring and I failed to work myself out of it. I knew I was quick and I always wanted to bowl that way. It was really frustrating.

Could you have done better in coping with those injuries?
For a fast bowler, there is nothing better than self-education. If a bowler can learn how to take care of his body, understand its needs when it gets physically very taxing at the highest level, he can sustain the pressure. He doesn’t need advice from several quarters, just one or two people who understand, who have been around for a long time, are enough.
Eventually, it is up to the bowler himself to work hard. Injuries can’t be totally prevented, but if properly taken care, they can be kept down to a minimum. It is the recovery part that is most painful and frustrating.

What would be your advice to Ishant?
Ishant reminds me of the days when I started bowling. The challenge for him is to handle everything that lies outside the sphere of his game. He has to learn to tackle the many hindrances that will come his way. There’ll be the media constantly following him, experts will come up with advice, there will be commercial activities. Ishant will have to involve himself in all this but, in the end, he has to perform. So he has to concentrate, trust in maybe a couple of those who’re close and work hard in the manner that suits his temperament, style and mind.

At any point, did you consider cutting down on pace to prolong your career? Would you suggest that to any other bowler?
I am a strong advocate of following your natural abilities. If a bowler can bowl fast, then he should. To me, it is the most thrilling aspect of the game. I never thought of cutting down on pace. My team needed me to bowl fast and that is why I bowled the way I did.
In international cricket, you have to take risks. I took one more than a few times and unfortunately it didn’t work out.

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