World Cup or bust, says Jacob Oram

Jacob Oram, the New Zealand allrounder, has said that the hope of participating in the 2011 World Cup is motivating him to continue his injury-ridden career but failure to make the squad for the tournament could prompt him to retire. Oram is presently recovering from a knee surgery he had in September.

"I remember talking to Shane Bond prior to his retirement, when he had that abdominal strain, and he told me that, for him, that was the one injury too many," Oram told the Sunday Star Times. "I think I'm at that point and in that mindset right now.

"I'm very highly motivated to go to the World Cup and if it wasn't on I may have already hung the boots up by now. It's a very big carrot for me and it may also be the swan song of my career. If that's to be the case, I'd like to give it everything to try and make it."

Oram's career has been interrupted by injuries to his knee, back, calf and Achilles tendon. In August, he suffered a recurrence of a patella-tendon injury during the tri-series in Sri Lanka and had surgery for it on September 2. He will not be fully fit in time for New Zealand's Twenty20 matches against Pakistan before the year ends though he hoped to ease back into action around Christmas for Central Districts during the HRV Cup, New Zealand's domestic Twenty20 competition.