AUCKLAND, Dec 8: Paceman Shane Bond will miss the home series against Pakistan which begins later this month after a scan showed fresh damage to his troublesome back, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced on Monday.

Bond joins batsman Nathan Astle as absentees for the two Tests and five One-day Internationals against Pakistan. The first Test in Hamilton starts on Dec 19.

NZC medical coordinator Warren Frost said Bond’s scan did not reveal a new fracture. “However, it has shown that there is increased sclerosis (bony activity) and stress where the bone is re-forming from the stress fracture sustained in May,” he said.

Frost could not put a time frame on Bond’s return to cricket but said he faced several months on the sidelines. New Zealand also play hosts to South Africa in February.

Astle underwent knee surgery earlier this year but the injury flared up again on the tour to India in October.

Captain Stephen Fleming is also doubtful for the matches against Pakistan because of an abdominal strain. But he is expected to play for Wellington in a four-day match this weekend.

Chris Cairns, absent from the Test scene since breaking down against England in 2002, was skipper for the 5-0 one-day series defeat in Pakistan, including the 49-run loss in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

The luckless Bond was sidelined for the recent matches in Pakistan and India, and also missed the series against England early last year because of a stress fracture of his right foot.—Reuters