Shane Bond retires from cricket

WELLINGTON: Black Caps pace bowler Shane Bond has retired from all cricket, ending an eight year international career.

Bond made the announcement in Christchurch this morning upon his return from the Twenty20 World Cup.

The 34-year-old says it is the right time to step down as he believes he can no longer live up to his own standards that he believes are required to be successful in international cricket.

In a career riddled with injury, Bond played just 18 tests, 82 one-dayers and 20 Twenty20 internationals.

As a result, the number of wickets he took do not rate amongst the all time greats, but his strike rate is amongst the top five in one-day and test cricket history. Bond took a wicket every 29 balls in one-day cricket and one every 39 balls in tests.