The Kiwi speedster reuniting with idol Bond in BBL

One of the fastest Kiwi bowlers since Shane Bond is hoping to push the 150kph barrier in the KFC BBL this summer as he prepares to reunite with his pace hero and mentor at the Sydney Thunder. 

Speedster Adam Milne has long been compared to Bond, the Black Caps legend who terrorised Australian batsmen in the early 2000s before becoming a decorated bowling coach and taking over at the Thunder in 2018.

Milne, who idolised Bond as a teenager and has worked with the Kiwi great at domestic and international level in New Zealand, made global headlines as a 21-year-old when he sent down a 153.2kph rocket in a match against the West Indies in 2014.

Unfortunately, the injury woes that plagued Bond throughout his career have tormented Milne as well and he's managed just 61 caps for his country since his debut almost a decade ago, including a heel injury that ruined his 2015 World Cup campaign on the eve of the semi-finals.

But despite his injury troubles, Milne has never once looked to ease off and bowl within himself.

"I'd love to be bowling 150s in the Big Bash, that'd be amazing," the 28-year-old told cricket.com.au.

"But the main thing is getting over there and bowling well for the team. If I'm bowling well and bowling quick, that's great. But if I'm bowling, well, not in the 150s, maybe in the 140s, I'll be pretty happy with that as well.

"I still want to bowl quick … and I try and make my action as smooth and as elegant as possible because if you're doing things in the most economical way possible, surely that's going to add pace.

"You do always think after an injury, 'Can I still bowl fast?' Most of the time when you're at this age, you can. It's all about desire and wanting to bowl that quick.

"The expectation (of bowling fast) is there and that's something I have to deal with. You might bowl in the mid-to-late 140s and people will say, 'Are you going to turn it up now?'. Teammates even say it, jokingly: 'Are you going to put the gas pedal down now?'.

"But that comes with trying to bowl fast; sometimes it won't be your day, sometimes it will be."

Milne was not even 10 years old when Bond burst onto the international scene on New Zealand's tour of Australia almost 20 years ago, but he vividly remembers his hero ripping through Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and co in a memorable spell on Australia Day at the Adelaide Oval.

That 2001-02 summer's one-day tri-series left a lasting impression on the young Kiwi, whose bustling approach to the wicket and searing pace have unsurprisingly drawn comparisons to his idol.

"Watching him knock some poles over with big late inswingers and bowling really fast, that was very exciting for me and what I enjoyed watching," he said.

"And fast forward to being able to have him as a coach when he worked with the Black Caps for a good period of time … it's done wonders for my game.

"I wouldn't say I completely modelled myself on him, but he had an influence on the way I approached things.

"I know when I first came around on the international scene, people would say my action is a lot like Bondy's. And I'm sure subconsciously when you see someone performing at a higher level, you tend to try and take away little things that they do, and I'm sure there's part of my action that was down to him."

Milne still has ambitions to play Test cricket for New Zealand and cites Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc as examples of how fast bowlers can overcome injury woes to be a force in the longest format, while he's also been in touch with England speedster Mark Wood during his recent injury lay-off.

But his more immediate goal is returning to 50-over domestic cricket in New Zealand at the end of the month before making his way to the BBL in early December.

He concedes telling his domestic side, Central Districts, that he'd chosen a high-profile marquee contract in the BBL (which is being funded outside the salary cap by Cricket Australia) instead of staying in New Zealand this summer was a difficult conversation to have.

But he hopes reuniting with Bond at the Thunder will act as a launching pad for him to return to the national side for the first time in more than two years.

"Having Bondy there gives me that familiarisation," he said. "He knows how I work, I know how he works, so I can try and slot into an environment rather that tiptoe in.

"Hopefully once I'm over there I can fit in seamlessly into the team and the way they want to play and help them win games."

Milne will join English pair Alex Hales and Sam Billings as the three internationals at the Thunder this year, while the Sydney club have also signed Ben Cutting from the Brisbane Heat.

Sydney Thunder squad: Callum Ferguson (c), Sam Billings (England), Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales (England), Usman Khawaja, Adam Milne (New Zealand), Nathan McAndrew, Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain