5 Cricketers who played through the pain barrier throughout their careers

#4 Shane Bond

Bond was one of the few bowlers who could cross the 150 kmph mark

The bowler who had all the makings of going past the legendary Sir Richard Hadlee was his fellow New Zealander Shane Bond. He has consistently clocked very high speeds – sometimes in excess of 150 kmph, whilst displaying wonderful control of seam and swing.

Unfortunately, Bond’s career was plagued by injuries right from the start, and was never able to deliver consistent performances. In addition to muscular strains, he had stress fractures of the back. In his later years he suffered from back problems, knee injuries and an abdominal tear. These injuries never allowed Bond to operate in full flow and he represented New Zealand in only 18 test matches taking 82 wickets and in 82 ODI’s registering 147 scalps to his name.

One can only imagine the impact he would have had by playing over 50 Test matches or double the number of ODIs! He retired in 2009 from Test cricket aged 34 after battling most of his career with injuries and in 2010 retired from all international cricket after ICC WT20. Bond will always be remembered for his bowling capabilities and misfortunes he faced due to injuries.