Jacob Oram is becoming increasingly frustrated that he cannot get back into training.
The injured New Zealand allrounder is sitting around his Palmerston North home resting while awaiting scan results for his back injury.
Oram is not even allowed to go for a run and is just "twiddling my thumbs".
He
is praying the results will at least allow him to start jogging and get back to batting at some level.
"Playing cricket is ultimately my job," he said.
He hasn't bowled for two weeks because of the pain in his spine when he does.
The last time was just before the Black Caps-World XI series when he underwent a fitness test in Christchurch.
"I bowled only four or five balls and I realised it wasn't right."
Then there was another week of rest which didn't achieve much.
He had a bone scan while the Black Caps were in Hamilton. A dye was injected into his body and the scan revealed a hot spot.
"The best case is for it to be a stress reaction, a bruise to the bone," Oram said. "That would mean a lot shorter time out."
But that is usually the first stage of a stress fracture and it could degenerate quickly if stressed.
The best he can hope for is to rejoin the New Zealand team for the start of the one-day series against Australia from February 19, but he said that was unlikely.
"There's no point in putting a date on when you might come back because it's a negative if you don't make the date, and that could put extra pressure on yourself," he said.
When he first injured his back, his physiotherapist father Mark treated him.
But it quickly became apparent it was not a soft tissue injury and rest was called for.
If it turns out to be a stress fracture, Oram said it would mean "complete and utter rest" for the first month.
The injury first appeared when he was bowling for Central Districts in their State Shield one-day match against Wellington at Waikanae on January 9.
"It's very frustrating; it's been a disappointing season," he said.
"The tsunami and the Sri Lankans going home, and now this."
Oram said his way back to playing again might have to be via club cricket or a first-class game for Central Districts as a batsman.
- NZPA
