Bond, Shane Bond

[Migara]

If you divide them, the latter one is, by 0.07. but I'm sure you were making a different point.

eactly the same point. if you can compare a player who has played 250 matches to a one that played 70, you can compare the player who played 70 to a one who played 20.

i.e. if Bond can be compared to Mcgrath and you can say Bond > McGrath because he has better stats, you can do the same thing with comparing Mendis to Bond and say Mendis > Bond

 

[Days of Grace]

To me, if a bowler has played a certain amount of matches, in my opinion, 50+, then he can be compared with everyone else with 50 plus matches.

Of course, my analysis, if you have seen it (I haven't done ODI players for a while) involves both aggregate and averages. So, McGrath would still have an advantage over Bond in terms of wickets taken. Yet Bond would get that back because he has a much better strike-rate and wickets per match.

 

[Uppercut]

The point isn't that he hasn't played enough matches. It's that he has neglected a key skill- the key skill- to fast bowling, which is finding a way to do it without your body breaking down all the time.

 

[Manee]

The point isn't that he hasn't played enough matches. It's that he has neglected a key skill- the key skill- to fast bowling, which is finding a way to do it without your body breaking down all the time.

Hate to keep agreeing like some weird stalker, but I'd agree here too - people cannot attribute chronic injury problems to 'bad luck', it is clearly either a natural physical deficiency (just like a lack of strength to bowl fast or stamina to bowl more than one over), lack of training/warm up or most likely a poor action.

 

[Richard]

And in Bond's case there's crossover between what makes him so good when he is fit and what causes him to be injured so often. His action, the way he bends his back back, allows him some amount of spring and adds an extra few mph, but also puts massive strain on the spine and causes all the stress-fractures and such that he's had.

The "if Bond didn't keep breaking down he'd be one of the best" mantra is an invalid one AFAIC. To have much of a chance of doing that he'd have to do something that would probably lessen his effectiveness. Bond had two choices: be a decent fast-medium bowler who kept fitness or be an exceptional out-and-out fast man who only appeared every now and then. Either option would have been fair enough, and he opted for the latter. But in my book Bond could not be and would never have been up with the best to have played the game, because he could not be both exceptional and injury-free simualtaneously for very long.

Make no mistake, I love watching him bowl well and love the knowledge that if I'm watching a ODI which he's playing I've got a damn good chance of seeing him bowl well. He's a bowler who, when he is fit, has just about everything you could want in a seamer, except perhaps for the fact that inswinger rather than outswinger to RHB is his stock-ball. But I'm well aware that it's going to be a pretty fleeting experience.

 

[Days of Grace]

Perhaps he went to option 2 sometime in 2006. His pace noticably dropped from 150-152km/h max to 145km/h max.

 

[Flem274*]

Yeah he's a lot slower than he used to be, and he survived a whole season (world cup season) without getting a career threatening injury, which must be some sort of record for him.

He's slowed down a bit and he's still getting the wickets. Suits me.

 

[Uppercut]

Have to say, he is one of my favourite players of all time.

 

[Days of Grace]

He was getting good lift on some bouncers in Colombo, so I'm really looking forward to him bowling on the South African wickets.

 

[Richard]

Perhaps he went to option 2 sometime in 2006. His pace noticably dropped from 150-152km/h max to 145km/h max.

Doubt it TBH, think it's more likely he just reached the sort of situation where pace drops naturally, as it does in 80% of bowlers. In any case, I've never noticed any change in his action to suggest he did such a thing.

 

[vic_orthdox]

I've always thought that he was much more upright in his latest incarnation, which has seen his inswinger not being quite as potent/extravagant.

 

[Richard]

Be interested to see some slo-mo comparison from, say, 2002/03 and 2007/08. Bond isn't a bowler I've watched day-by-day and the same traits have largely seemed to be there, so it'd be interesting to see in proper detail just how much difference there really is\isn't.

 

[Manee]

I've always thought that he was much more upright in his latest incarnation, which has seen his inswinger not being quite as potent/extravagant.

Yeah, the torque on the back just seems to be generally less.

 

[Polo23]

Doubt it TBH, think it's more likely he just reached the sort of situation where pace drops naturally, as it does in 80% of bowlers. In any case, I've never noticed any change in his action to suggest he did such a thing.

Rubbish.

After he had major back problems after the WC in 2003 he changed his action. He became far more front on in his delivery stride from his hips down (he was always chest on, but below the chest he was side on, creating all sorts of stress on his back).

YouTube - BEST OF BOND

That is him 4 years ago in his first test series back from those terrible injuries he had in 2003. Bowling around 140km/h. His pace drop was due to his change in action, it wasn't a natural decrease through age.

 

[Richard]

 

[Flem274*]

Haha, someone debates Richards opinion so he calls them a troll. Poor.

 

[Athlai]

Also Rich Bond NEVER SAID HE WAS QUITTING TESTS NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU SAY HE DID.

You are just speculating in that regard, nor have you seen him since his return so should hardly rule him out.

 

[Flem274*]

Bond said he was considering quitting tests after the SA injury iirc, but that was only an idea and he said it straight after his injury, so he was probably mega pissed too, hardly the time for a big call like that.

 

[Athlai]

He didn't say he was going to quit he said he was getting frustrated with all his injuries and how difficult it was.

 

[Days of Grace]

Justin Vaughan said Bond had approached him about quitting tests.

But then again, after the Bond-ICL debacle, I'll never believe a word Vaughan says again.