KEY POINTS:
Deep down, big allrounder Jacob Oram probably suspects it's a case of when, not if, he has to make the call to turn his back on bowling.
He'll do it with gritted teeth, but he's been through more than his share of injury problems due to hurling his giant frame into his work since his ODI debut in January 2001.
Back, hamstrings, feet, had all conspired to reduce the amount of international cricket he's played since picking up five for 59 with his lively medium pacers on test debut against India at the Basin Reserve in 2002.
Consider the numbers:
Since making his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on January 4, 2001, New Zealand have played 167 games. Oram has missed 63 of them.
Since his first test, he has missed 12. Some might have been selectorial decisions, but not many. He calls it a "liquorice allsorts" situation; the variety of niggles which crop up just when he feels he's in good nick and fit.
It's frustrating for the man who has the physique and ability to fill the boots of Chris Cairns. He missed the second test of the recent tour of South Africa but he's fit again and has his fingers crossed fate will be kind to him.
"In the last three or four years it's been the same old thing, where I'll get injured, get myself right, feel I'm starting to get form, and get injured again.
"That's the story of the second half of my career. I feel like I know my game a lot better, I feel more confident at this level but the body doesn't want to play."
And he knows there's a touch of Catch 22 about his situation; the injuries are a result of bowling, but he wants to keep bowling, to be a fully fledged allround contributor.
And Oram has a healthy respect, and plenty of sympathy, for what speedster Shane Bond has been through with persistent injuries a constant black cloud following him in the last few seasons. Bond is hoping to be fit to return for the England series in February after his latest setback.
"The whispers I've heard, that he's been labelled as soft, is complete, utter crap, so far from the truth.
"You put yourself through the trials and tribulations of international cricket, work as hard as you can through rehab to get back, and it's the worst part of cricket.
"I'd rather face the guys I was facing the other night [Australian quicks Brett Lee and Shaun Tait] and have the fear of breaking an arm than go through a winter of rehab again."
So if Oram does turn himself into a specialist batsman, would he command a test and ODI spot?
His test average of 38.24 would suggest yes; his ODI numbers, 22.91, aren't as good but then he's been used in the latter stages of the innings.
He'd fancy getting in earlier, have time to find his bearings before letting loose with his bludgeoning strokes, which earned him an unbeaten 66 in 31 balls in this week's Twenty20 international, and which took Australia apart in Perth last season, a ferocious 101 not out in 72 balls.
"I wouldn't say I'd walk into an XI but I'd definitely put my hand up for a middle order spot," he said.
"It's a different mindset, a different approach, you've only got one chance to succeed, you don't have the batting or bowling to fall back on. But I'll have to make decisions soon."
Australians respect players who put up strong performances against them.
Oram has done and he'll be a key figure in the defence of the Chappell-Hadlee series starting in Adelaide today.
"We know we are a better one-day side than in the other two forms of the game and if we get conditions to suit and we get a few guys firing then we've got every chance."
He didn't say so, but Oram is indisputably one of those guys.
