Cricket: New Black Caps era motivates Oram

Jacob Oram. Photo / Paul Taylor

Jacob Oram is targetting next year's Twenty20 World Cup as his international cricket swansong but it's a fluid beast because 12 months ago he thought he would have stopped playing for New Zealand by now.

The 33-year-old won't play in next month's test against Zimbabwe after retiring in 2009 from the longer form of the game but will play in the three one-dayers and two Twenty20 internationals, which get under way early Sunday morning (NZT).

He showed his continued value to the Black Caps with an impressive showing at this year's World Cup - he averaged 19.67 with the bat and took 12 wickets at 18.42 - to help New Zealand to the semifinals. His place in the side had been questioned for some time because of a lean run of form and continued battles with injury.

But Oram feels rejuvenated after his strong showing at the World Cup, a first winter break for as long as he can remember and a new era under new captain Ross Taylor. They also have a new manager (Mike Sandle), new trainer (former Olympic sprinter Chris Donaldson), new bowling coach (Damien Wright) and a couple of new players.

"[The new era] is one of the reasons I wanted to keep playing,'' Oram said. "I talked a lot this time last year that, if I came back from knee surgery, the World Cup might be my last. I had a good World Cup, my body felt good and there was no reason to stop.

"But another reason is that I see a lot of excitment in the current crop of players and also the changing of support staff, and that's no disrespect to the previous support staff. Everything is so new I think it's injected this enthusiasm into the squad that hopefully I can feed off and make me feel a few years younger.''

He's had four months to think about his future following his involvement in the IPL in May. He took most of June off to spend time with his young family before heading back into the gym and nets in July.

"When I started training again in July, I remember the first couple of sessions I had in the gym and I had absolutely zero motivation,'' Oram said. "It was very hard for me to get back into it because for so long my goal and what I thought would be my last goal for cricket was going to be the World Cup.

"Deciding to keep going was more a mental thing than a physical thing but I have re-set my targets and have a new goal as next year's Twenty/20 World Cup, which is only 11 months away. That's what I am working towards and where I want to peak again, and maybe that's the line in the sand for my career. Those motivation levels are right up there again and the body is feeling good and I can't wait to get going again.''

He hasn't got long to wait. New Zealand will take on Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday morning in the first Twenty/20 international and nothing short of a convincing win in all three forms of the game will be good enough. New Zealand might be ranked eighth in tests and seventh in one-dayers (Zimbabwe don't have a test ranking because of insufficient games and 10th in ODIs) but there should be a gulf between the two teams.

The last time the two teams met, at the World Cup, the Black Caps won by 10 wickets when Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum chased down Zimbabwe's total of 163 in just 33.3 overs.

New Zealand have never lost a test or Twenty/20 match against Zimbabwe but lost the 2001 one-day series in this country 2-1. It was an era or relative success for Zimbabwe with the likes of Heath Streak, Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell but they have struggled massively since then because of the unsettled political situation. They are slowly improving but shouldn't pose too many problems for the Black Caps.

"I think the key to this tour is not getting complacent, not taking Zimbabwe easily because, if we were honest with ourselves, even though we had a very good World Cup we are not the most consistent side,'' said Oram, who will captain the New Zealand sixes side in Hong Kong immediately after the one-day series. "We really have to start treating every match we play like it's a World Cup knockout game just so we can put performances on the board that warrant our talent level.''

Schedule of New Zealand's cricket tour to Zimbabwe

Oct 16 (1am) - 1st Twenty/20 international - Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, Harare

Oct 18 (1am) - 2nd Twenty/20 international - Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, Harare

Oct 20 (8.30pm) - 1st ODI - Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, Harare

Oct 22 (8.30pm) - 2nd ODI - Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, Harare

Oct 25 (8.30pm) - 3rd ODI: Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, Bulawayo

Oct 28-29 (9pm) - Warm-up match - Zimbabwe XI vs New Zealand, Bulawayo

Nov 1-5 (9pm) - Test - Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, Bulawayo