Surprised more hasn't been mentioned on here today in light of radio interviews over the last 24 hours.
What has come out - and was a common answer in both interviews (one with Vaughan and one with Bond - is that Bond signed a contract with the ICL in August AFTER asking NZC if he was able to sign with ICL and still play for NZ.
Remarkably, NZ Cricket agreed to this as they believed there was nothing in the contract to prevent Bond from doing so. Six weeks later, after another check of the contract, a clause which required any tournaments to be sanctioned by the ICC was discovered in the small print. How that was missed in the first place, I do not know.
When Bond returned from South Africa, he had already decided to give away tests - having worked out most of his major injuries had come in that form of the game.
Of course, once this extra clause was discovered, that's when the problem had started. And this is why the discussions have been going on so long. By all accounts, Bond would have a very good case if he chose to go down the legal route, but he has opted to keep it out of the courts, as he has respect for the NZ Cricket organisation.
Basically, it sounds like a major, major ****-up from NZ Cricket. Unbelievable that their contracts weren't studied closer as soon as the ICL came to light.