Following New Zealand cricket is becoming a test in positive thinking. As Jacob Oram became the latest senior player to withdraw from a squad yesterday, the selectors were left to reflect that if luck does even itself out then things can only improve for the more serious business against England beginning at the weekend.
Oram was forced to pull out of the Twenty20 match today because of a strained left hamstring suffered during his team’s defeat in Auckland two days ago. The problem was caused by the run-ups at Eden Park, which begin on the soft, sanded grass of the rugby union outfield and end in delivery on a firm drop-in pitch.
Having top-scored as well as bowled the most economical spell in that match, Oram offered to play as a specialist batsman, but the management decided not to risk one of their dwindling number of established players so close to the one-day international in Wellington that opens the five-match series on Saturday. Instead, they called up Daniel Flynn for the first time, completing a memorable day for the 22-year-old left-handed batsman from Rotorua, who had earlier scored a career-best 149 from 141 balls for Northern Knights against Canterbury Wizards. If England needed an inside line, they had only to call Andrew Strauss, a Knights player.
The value of Oram, whose power makes him a box-office attraction, grows with each retirement, defection or serious injury around him. There is a feeling here that the New Zealand one-day team are declining from a peak of reaching the World Cup semi-finals last April and that the graphs of the two sides may be about to cross.
A year ago yesterday, England beat New Zealand in a nerve-ridden match in Brisbane to qualify for the final of the Commonwealth Bank Series. Four of that New Zealand team were due to play today, but only two from England - Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood - are among the 16-man squad for the 50-over series.
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It requires a second look at the scorecard from the Gabba to confirm that England really did opened the batting with Michael Vaughan and Ed Joyce, and that Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett shared the new ball. Although they England beat Australia in the final, the subsequent World Cup campaign was doomed from the start.
Oram has a lot of respect for the new England team. “We knew that the coming games would be difficult and that was reiterated in Auckland,” he said. “England have some damn good players and they know how to play the game. The bowlers were very impressive and gave us nothing to hit, Ryan Sidebottom in particular.
“We won more than we lost against them overall last year and it is hard to know yet if they are improving, but I can see they have a lot of energy and a positive attitude. The guys I have not seen, like Phil Mustard, Luke Wright and Dimitri Mascarenhas to an extent, all look pretty accomplished cricketers,” he said.
A country of four million people will struggle to find as many players of that calibre and the mission becomes tougher when the best are tempted by the Indian leagues. English counties, too, are sure to come sniffing when the Kolpak ruling applies.
“There is every chance that it could get worse for us,” Oram said. “If people are throwing around money it becomes difficult to turn down. We have to create an environment where guys really want to play for their country, to win for New Zealand and have a pretty cool time doing it. We cannot compete with the US dollar.”
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Oram, 29, has signed for the official Indian Premier League, even postponing his wedding to ensure his availability, saying that an offer of US$200,000 (£102,000) was too good to turn down. At 29, he remains committed to both Test and one-day cricket, but New Zealand are bound to be monitoring the situation.