| Player: | SE Bond |
| Event: | ICC Champions Trophy 2009/10 |
New Zealand speedster Shane Bond believes his return to international cricket has been a relatively smooth one.
The right-armer who set the world ablaze when he entered the international arena spent two years in the international wilderness after joining the rebel Indian Cricket League.
"The jump is massive and even from the time I've been out, the game's jumped up another couple of levels with the advent of Twenty20 and some of the shot-making and stuff.
"The pace of the game is huge, but I felt that I slipped back in pretty comfortably.
"It was fun and it's probably as relaxed as I've been. It was still a bit up and down, in terms of performance sometimes, but you've got to expect that."
The Black Caps lost to Trans-Tasman rivals Australia by six wickets in the Champions Trophy final in Centurion on Monday but Bond was satisfied with the team's effort, particularly given key players such as Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Daryl Tuffey and Daniel Vettori had been ruled out at various stages in the tournament through injury.
"To make the final of a tournament like that was a real career highlight," he told The Press. "It was disappointing not to win but I really enjoyed the occasion and, in terms of all the injuries we had, to make it and turn it into a competitive game was a hell of an effort.
"Even though the victory seemed comfortable enough for Aussie, I think we gave them a pretty good run and that will do wonders for our confidence."