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Kiwis anxious about Oram
13/11/2007 21:44 - (SA)
Jaco van der Merwe , Beeld
Johannesburg - All members of the New Zealand cricket team have their fingers crossed this week. They are hoping that versatile Jacob Oram will be fit to play on Friday.
The Black Caps are preparing to face South Africa in the second Test of the two-match series and they need Oram, who pulled a hamstring in the first Test at the Wanderers last week.
The series decider starts in Centurion on Friday but Oram did not bat or bowl in the nets in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
"He will take his time to start doing light exercises. We'll know only closer to the time whether he will be available," New Zealand coach John Bracewell said.
"We'll let him do a little more on Wednesday and increase the intensity on Thursday."
Oram, fast bowler Shane Bond, star batsman Stephen Fleming and opening batsman Michael Papps all battled during the Wanderers Test, which the Proteas won by 358 runs.
Bond had problems with a stomach muscle, Fleming had an injured arm and a sore thumb, and Papps was fighting a stomach virus.
Bond has returned to New Zealand, but Fleming and Papps were hard at work on Tuesday.
Seam bowler Kyle Mills and top-order batsman Jamie How also trained on Tuesday after arriving in South Africa on Monday night.
Come into the picture as allrounder
Both are members of New Zealand's ODI squad. They had to fly out earlier than they had anticipated and are now on standby for Test duty.
If Oram recovers in time, seam bowler Michael Mason is likely to take Bond's place.
The other possibility is that Lou Vincent or How will replace Oram, with Mills taking over from Bond.
"The allrounder's position is of critical importance to the batting," Bracewell said. "We will have to see how the injured players progress before we decide whether to consider Kyle and Jamie.
"Kyle can come into the picture as allrounder - a bowler who can bat down the order."
The South Africans had a rest day on Tuesday and spent it playing golf.
The New Zealanders, in contrast, had an exhausting workout in the hot sun. They spent much time on fielding after making a number of mistakes at the Wanderers.
"One must take your opportunities in Test matches," Bracewell said. "You can't drop a batsman of Jacques Kallis's class four times in a Test.
"It did not surprise me that he scored 186. You pay a price for every mistake you make," the coach said.
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