Bond targets West Indies
tour for return

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond is eyeing the tour of the West Indies in May as his comeback from a foot injury he sustained in the triangular one-day series in Australia earlier this year.

The stress fracture of his right foot will keep Bond out of the reckoning for any of the three tests against England which start next week. He already missed the five-match one-day series against the tourists that the hosts won 3-2.

Bond will also forego the New Zealand one-day side's trip to Sharjah to take on Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the short tour of Pakistan beginning in April.

Bond was the player of the series in Australia when he took 21 wickets in the tournament that also included South Africa.

The bowler is undergoing intensive treatment using the latest technology available to New Zealand Cricket -- The Exogen Bone Healing System -- which uses pulsed low intensity ultrasound to accelerate healing.

He has been using Exogen for two weeks and said he could feel its positive effects.

"My aim is to be ready for the tour to the West Indies in May," Bond said.

"Indications from recent scans show the bone is knitting back together nicely, which is encouraging because after seeing the (New Zealand) boys in the one-day series against England I'm extra keen to get back out there."

Mail Cricket Editor