Bracewell still pins hopes on Oram

Shane Bond will be closely watched by Black Caps skipper Stephen Fleming today.

John Bracewell has singled out the growing concern over Jacob Oram's fitness as one of his main headaches since taking over as coach in 2003.

The former New Zealand test spinner, appointed primarily to take the one-day team to World Cup heights in the West Indies next year, regards Oram's ongoing injury record as a massive frustration, and particularly after the retirement of fellow allrounder Chris Cairns.

Add more injury concerns with other players and Bracewell's rockiest year in terms of results, and it becomes clear why he desperately needs Oram to make a swift and sound recovery, and a strong comeback with the ball.

"Jake's injury has finished being frustrating and is now becoming a bit of a worry," Bracewell said. "You wonder whether such a big bloke can fill two roles, like he's been doing for us.

"But we'll persist because he's young enough to battle through it. He was a late starter as a bowler but he's an immensely strong man, and Lord knows, you need as much firepower in your attack as possible these days."

Oram hasn't played for New Zealand since pulling out of last month's series against Sri Lanka with a bruised heel. He was also restricted by injury throughout last year's tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

With Cairns missing as well, Bracewell's immediate concerns involve finding a new balance in his squad for the series against the West Indies, which starts at the Cake Tin today before moving on to Queenstown, Christchurch, Napier and Auckland.

It's not the best timing for New Zealand, having to change tack because of injury and unavailabilities only a year out from the World Cup, but Bracewell said it was simply one of those things, and couldn't be helped.

Since taking over from Denis Aberhart, Bracewell's side have played 47 games for a 27-17 win-loss record (three no-results), and his test team have struggled to a 6-8 record and three draws.

"You can get frustrated at times, when you can see a player is just ready to fulfil their potential and then they get injured and go backwards," he said. "Andre Adams is a classic example. He really looked like he was ready to come of age this summer, after playing with a lot of emotional maturity in South Africa. Suddenly he's gone from hand injury to hand injury and hasn't played a game since.

"Jake is in the same boat."

But Bracewell said the positive side of the absences was they forced opportunity and responsibility on other players, with the resulting likelihood someone would step up to a new level.

"We have to put the onus on guys who've probably cruised in their second string a wee bit, relying on just their major strength for a long time.

"I think it's about time one or two of them stepped up to the mark in terms of their true potential. Having a Cairns, Oram and a Styris has overshadowed the genuine potential of guys like Kyle Mills, who once played an entire season just as a batter.

"Franklin is a genuine batter for Wellington, and we know about the abilities of Adams and others. We have the allrounders, it's just that they've haven't been given a lot of opportunity on the international stage."

Asked to rate his side's performance after three years in charge, Bracewell said New Zealand weren't any different from the West Indies, in that they could win or lose against virtually anyone at any time, with a couple of obvious exceptions.

"I think there's a two-tier level in world cricket at the moment," he said. "On one tier is Australia, and on the other is the rest of us.

"Everyone's battling to challenge the Australians but so far everyone's fallen short. In my mind the West Indies aren't any different than anyone else. They're part of the pack."