Oram keen to play on as allrounder

Jacob Oram, the New Zealand allrounder, doesn't want to think about a worst-case scenario as he recovers from his latest back injury. Despite a sequence of bowling-related injuries, Oram maintained that he was far from becoming a specialist batsman as he concentrated on his rehabilitation ahead of the summer season.

Oram's latest injury is another stress reaction identical to the one he suffered 18 months ago. "It's a good time to get injured right now," Oram told the Manawatu Standard. "I'd rather have it now so I can hit the season 100% fit. Bowling doesn't help; the stresses of bowling a cricket ball makes it worse."

The latest injury is a bruised bone, which can lead to a stress fracture including degenerative joint and disc problems. This time around the injury was less stressful because it was not in the middle of summer, as the heel injury was which put him out of action for two months.

"You try and talk yourself out of it but you know deep down you are moving into pain," Oram said. "I didn't realise it would be such a major [problem]. But as soon as I went to bowl again, it was very evident. It happened on the last day of the tour [of South Africa] which really did disappoint me because it was my first Test series for a long time and personally I felt very good with bat and ball."

However, Oram felt that his inactivity at home gave his body a chance to recover. With competitive cricket set to begin only in October, he said he had time to mull over his future.

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it," he said. "I could give batting a really good shot and maybe there is a future there. Out of the three injuries, this one seems the most positive because I seem to have good direction and know about my rehabilitation."