Oram turns English counties down

Jacob Oram, the 26-year old allrounder who departed for the tour of Bangladesh today, confirmed that he would reject any advances to play in England next summer.

At the moment New Zealand have a gap in their schedule between the home series against Australia in March and a tour to Zimbabwe provisionally earmarked for September. But Oram preferred to have a break than earning cash. "It is best for my body not to do it. We get so few breaks I should use it as rest. Financially, it is hard to look past it. But it is in the best interests of myself and playing for New Zealand to stay here and get my body right for the Zimbabwe and South Africa tours next season."

The grind of the county treadmill put him off. "Playing for county teams is not all it's cracked up to be," Oram said. "You're playing five or six days a week: it's pretty tough. I would go over there as an allrounder and would have to do everything."

Neil Perry, his coach at Manawatu, agreed. "It's different when you're up and coming trying to make a name for yourself. But for a quick bowler it's a hard life; there's a lot of overs to be bowled and not a lot of recovery time." Perry, who had a brief career with Glamorgan, explained that this was one reason for the shortage of fast bowlers emerging from England.

However, Andre Adams, who spent three productive months with Essex this summer, replaces Oram in the one-day series in Bangladesh. "It is purely a resting period [for me], from three one-dayers in six days," Oram indicated. "It was basically a command - it came straight from the top, from the selectors. I think it's good because we've got a huge series coming up [against Australia]. And you want to keep playing for your country."