Bracewell wants Bond to continue playing

Shane Bond took five wickets in the first Test against South Africa in Johannesburg but was ruled out for the rest of the series due to an abdominal tear © Getty Images

John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, has urged fast bowler Shane Bond to continue playing international cricket despite his recurring injury concerns.

He was reacting to statements made by Bond, who had to return home in the middle of New Zealand's tour to South Africa due to an abdominal tear, that he was considering retiring from the game. Bond had told a local radio station on December 4 that he was getting frustrated by his injuries.

"To be fair, that [the talk of retirement] has been going on now for four or five years," Bracewell told AFP. "But he keeps coming back and he's a bloody good trainer who works damn hard. Eventually its has got to get you down, that sort of stuff, and he is not getting any younger.

"I would discourage it, mainly from a selfish point of view, because he is such an outstanding bowler for us." Bond is New Zealand's main strike bowler, having taken 125 ODI wickets at 19.32, and 79 Test wickets at 22.39, but he has been plagued by injuries throughout his seven-year career.

Braceful was confident that New Zealand had adequate fast-bowling resources, but was keen to make the most of Bond's presence. "It would be nice for some of those guys to bowl with Shane for a while and get that experience rub off on them."

Bond's latest injury means that he will sit out of New Zealand's Twenty20 international against Australia as well as the following three-match ODI series for the Chappel-Hadlee Trophy.