• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Jacob Oram the Forgotten Allrounder - What Could Have Been

Zinzan

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Was a tragically underrated ODI bowler with an overall career ER <4.5 if my memory serves. Overall he was an extremely valuable & natural ODI cricketer.

As a test cricketer, a good batsman in the mid 2000s as Flem alluded to, but a fairly innocuous bowler (outside his debut Test series against India in 2002/03 on those infamous green paddocks played on in that series.) and was never quite in the 140Km vicinity. The quickest I recall him hitting was 137-138kms early in his career.

Unfortunately my most recent memory of him as a batsman was someone who became mentally weak and who had very little confidence and self-belief in his ability. In fact, there was a stage he was batting as low as 8 or 9 in our ODI side and almost completely forgot how to bat.

As a test all-rounder, he should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as Cairns and Flintoff as was never a match-winner with the ball post that debut series I referred to above.
 
Last edited:
S

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Love the passion.

As I've posted before, one of his team-mates summed up that the issues at the end of his career were because 'he'd rather be home patting his dog'. So it wasn't his eye, or anything else other than motivation to want to be on the road playing cricket. And I get that. You only get so much energy to place into being a professional sportsman and injuries/family sapped his to the point of no return.

I'm not sure how high he ranks but I know he's contributed strongly to some of my favourite memories of my country winning matches, and that'll do me.
 
Zinzan

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
SteveNZ said:
Love the passion.

As I've posted before, one of his team-mates summed up that the issues at the end of his career were because 'he'd rather be home patting his dog'. So it wasn't his eye, or anything else other than motivation to want to be on the road playing cricket. And I get that. You only get so much energy to place into being a professional sportsman and injuries/family sapped his to the point of no return.

I'm not sure how high he ranks but I know he's contributed strongly to some of my favourite memories of my country winning matches, and that'll do me.
Click to expand...
See I just don't get that. Perhaps it's because I never had the talent to get that opportunity that it seems almost sacrilegious to me.
 
Bahnz

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
I just get the feeling that Oram should've retired after the 2011 World Cup. I think he really planned on that tournament being his swansong, but he let John Wright talk him into staying on. Unfortunately, his heart wasn't really in it anymore, and as a result he was complete garbage for the last 18 months of his career, which sadly sours how people remember him.
 
S

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Zinzan said:
See I just don't get that. Perhaps it's because I never had the talent to get that opportunity that it seems almost sacrilegious to me.
Click to expand...
Fair enough too.

It's the grind off the field that gets people in the end. In Jake's case, it was probably the injuries, the rehab, the media, the family (the dog), etc. If he were in a sport where he was home more often than not, say the AFL or a lesser extent the NRL, you'd have seen a lot more out of him - a guy with his personality. But cricket is almost unique in that sense. Golf, if you don't want to play next week - you don't. Rugby, your home games are at home. In cricket, even your home games aren't sometimes. It's just a lot more than people see.
 
HeathDavisSpeed

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
One of my enduring memories of Oram is worrying like hell any time he had to take a catch under a high ball that one of his fingers would shatter during the act of taking the catch.
 
Athlai

Athlai

Not Terrible
HeathDavisSpeed said:
One of my enduring memories of Oram is worrying like hell any time he had to take a catch under a high ball that one of his fingers would shatter during the act of taking the catch.
Click to expand...
I can think of at least twice when he broke his fingers catching.

Remember in 07 when he said he'd amputate it to play in the world cup? Goodtimes.
 
jcas0167

jcas0167

International Debutant
Bahnz said:
Oram's average hovered around 40 for almost his entire career up until his last couple of test, when Murali took a big steaming dump on it. He'd make almost any New Zealand team in history as a batsman alone.
Click to expand...
Will have to check when I get home, but I recall Hadlee saying in "Changing Pace" that the decision to turn Oram into an all rounder rather than focus on his batting was slightly controversial in some quarters.

I remember reading a Palmerston North Boys 1995 year book (for some reason it was in our school library) and Oram was absolutely dominant with his batting and his goal keeping. I remember when he was in that successful Under 19 team that won in England in 1996 and captained by McMillan. He batted number 5.

He quickly shone for CD, with big hitting efforts in Cricket Max and at first class level.

I don't recall him doing much if any bowling until later on, and IIRC was always about 130 kph, although his height and consistency made him very awkward. In the 2004 test series against England I recall the commentators saying that Flintoff's bowling was about 10 kph faster, although Oram seemed the better batsman.

In hindsight I wonder if he had just focussed on his batting his career might have flourished more and been more sustainable given how blighted he was by injuries. Although he would have had to push out Styris, Astle or McMillan for a middle order spot.

My favourite memories of him are batting with Cairns against South Africa (never saw that 2004 Australia test), the massive hit onto the roof of Lancaster Park in 2005 Hadlee/Chappell (won the game in great partnership with McCullum) and his incredible hitting in the 2006/2007 Tri Series with England and Australia. Also, he's on the honours board at Lords which is pretty cool.
 
Last edited:
Zinzan

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Athlai said:
I can think of at least twice when he broke his fingers catching.

Remember in 07 when he said he'd amputate it to play in the world cup? Goodtimes.
Click to expand...
Haha, almost forgot about that. So he goes from being prepared chop a digit off in 2007 to preferring to be at home patting his dog in 2010..How attitudes can change.
 
harsh.ag

harsh.ag

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
We need more people like him in cricket. Honestly, it is quite sad sometimes to view the dour faces on the current bowlers around the world. Oram was great fun to watch bat. I really wish, just like jcas said, that he had focused solely on his batting. Would have been something to watch. As if NZ needed another bowler like him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top