Shane Bond recalls how being a traffic police helped him shape his cricket career

Not many know that former New Zealand speedster Shane Bond was once a struggling traffic police officer. Recently, Bond recalled his days as a traffic cop and cited how the tough job made him stronger mentally. As per the recent reports in Sportstarlive, Shane recalled an incident when he had allowed a vehicle to pass down the wrong lane. He was mocked by the other people on the road.

Shane Bond mentioned that those days were not the best of his life for sure. However, what those days essentially did was to put him under some severe situations that made him strong mentally. Also, these tricky situations helped him gain confidence and eventually prepared him for the big stage in the international cricket.

“It wasn’t my finest hour. That job took me out of my comfort zone, placed me in stressful situations, helped my self-confidence and prepared me pretty well for international cricket,” quoted Shane Bond.

Fascinated by the speed gun

He further spoke about his fascination for the speed. He always got fascinated by the speed gun and wanted to be faster than every other bowler. He knew that he would be bad at sledging and hence always believed in making his ball do the talking. Bond also revealed that he used to be very honest to himself in the practice sessions. He gave prime importance to his physical fitness.

“I understood there was no point in me sledging. I probably would have been hopeless at it. I was fascinated by the speed gun, trying to beat what was the fastest, although I never considered I’d become the fastest. Those (Steve Waugh, Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara) were wickets you took pleasure in. It was great to get key players in big games,” he quoted.

“In order to be good, I had to be brutally honest with myself. Three sessions of physical fitness including boxing made me believe I’d worked harder and was primed better than the others to bowl,” Bond added.

On his role in the current setup

Currently, Shane Bond is the coach of the New Zealand A side. He has served in the same capacity for the national side as well during his stint as the bowling consultant. Also, he has donned the coach’s hat in franchise cricket. Commenting on his role as the coach in the current set up, he mentioned that he tries to help the players with his experience.

“My job is to get the very best out of players. It’s got nothing to do with me and my time. It’s been and gone. You can lean on your experiences because you understand the pressures,” he wrapped up.