There was no looking back for Shane Bond as he flew home to Christchurch then walked away from international cricket for good today.
No more torturing his screaming body. No more 'Bond, Shane Bond' lines from scribes and commentators. Just a dedicated dad to Hayley, Katie, five, and Ryan, one - and some relative anonymity with wife Tracey before he eyes some mentoring for promising New Zealand fast bowlers.
"I've missed them (family), I've hardly spent any time with them over the last three months," Bond said.
"The day I announced it to the guys it was a bit emotional, then the next day it was a bit of a relief. I'm really comfortable and happy. It's been an easy day and it's been nice to ring up people and thank them and let them know personally."
Bond told captain Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum -- his two most frequent teammates - straight after their Twenty20 world championship exit against England in the West Indies this week, then informed his remaining players individually.
The team gathered to farewell Bond with a few drinks in their St Lucia hotel, with Bond insistent he didn't want a big announcement following a gut-wrenching defeat.
One of the best fast bowlers New Zealand has produced, he knew early last summer he may call it quits at the end of the season.
He farewelled test cricket with a bang, taking eight for 153 in December to usher in a memorable win against Pakistan in Dunedin, but knew his days were numbered.
"It was almost when I was playing for Canterbury after coming back, I was really battling, the back was like concrete and it was hard work," he told NZPA.
"I've had tendonitis for a couple of years in my achilles and that was barking at me. I just wasn't moving how I wanted to be moving. I just thought 'I've had enough of this'."
Back problems marred his career, requiring his spine to be fused with titanium wire in 2004, along with a host of other niggles which saw him play just 18 tests over an eight-year period since his debut against Australia in Hobart.
Still, he bowled sharply against Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series in March, got through the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he'd set up his family with a $US750,000 ($NZ1,050,615) contract, then had his moments in the Caribbean without totally looking his old self.
"I looked forward to the tours coming up and they're all on the subcontinent. I know how fit and strong you've got to be to go through those tours and I thought 'I just don't know if I can put myself through that any more'."
He won't be putting his name forward for the IPL auction again: "I'm finished. I'm done," he said.
Bond's cricketing numbers stack up with anyone's. He took 87 wickets from 18 tests at an average of 22.09, and 147 wickets at 20.88 from 82 one-day internationals as he rose to the world's top-ranked one-day bowler.
Having burst on the scene in Australia in 2001-02 with his 150kmh-plus, sandshoe-crushing inswingers, arguably Bond's finest spell was in Port Elizabeth in 2003 when he took six for 23 and mesmerised Australian kingpins Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting at the World Cup.
The great Ponting fell to Bond the first six times he faced him in one-day internationals.
"There's times like the last test against Pakistan and one against the West Indies were times when I felt I was at my best. I'll always remember that game at the World Cup," he said.
Injury woes aside, Bond was incensed when he was barred from playing for New Zealand for more than a year after joining the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2008 on the understanding he would be free to play.
Today, he insisted there was no bitterness.
"I finish happy, no ill-feeling towards anyone. I've been very lucky during my career, I've had ups and downs but I look back with great pride. I'm bloody pleased."
Bond will now put his feet up, try to have his book on the shelves before Christmas and work with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) towards a potential coaching career. He's already completed two levels of his coaching certificate.
His goal is to work with promising New Zealand pacemen, hopefully with input from the likes of Dennis Lillee and respected Australian bowling coach Troy Cooley.
"There's no doubt there's some talent and there's some guys that can bowl with some pace. The thing is getting them early into routines, and make them realise there is a lot of hard work required for them to make it," he said.
"If we can give them a good start and invest in them, hopefully that will pay off down the track."
