Shane Bond has announced his retirement from the five day of the format of the game. There had been speculation earlier that he would call it quits after he had suffered an injury after the first test match against Pakistan, and that he had taken his time out to think about the same. 
Bond is now 34 years old and was lost to international cricket in the two years that he was away playing in the Indian Cricket League (ICL). However, he broke away from it and returned to play international cricket, and has since then, represented the country in all three formats of the game. However, his latest injury is another one in the set of recurring back woes that he has had and would have been the main reason for his retirement from this format.
Bond has said that he will continue playing in the ODIs and the T20Is.
Bond said, “The hardest thing is that I’ve always considered myself a Test bowler - and it was such a great feeling to be back in the team last month and playing Test match cricket with the Blackcaps.”
Bond has been out of international cricket in the last one month and has said that he will try to make a comeback for the ODIs against Australia in February.
The CEO of the New Zealand Cricket, Justin Vaughan, has said that he sympathised the decision as he considered Bond to be one of the best Kiwi bowler around. He also said that despite the disappointment, they understood Bond’s feelings and will support him in his efforts to continue with his career in the shorter formats of the game.