Oram cuts contract in favour of shorter game

RICKI HERBERT was a happy coach after Dani Sanchez’s second goal in as many weeks earned the Wellington Phoenix a 1- 1 draw with A- League leaders Central Coast.

The Spanish midfielder missed the opening 10 rounds of the season as he recovered from knee surgery but he is making up for lost time. Just as the Phoenix seemed consigned to their third straight loss, Sanchez popped up in the 85th minute to head in a Benjamin Totori cross and grab his club a point at Westpac Stadium yesterday.

Earlier, the league’s leading scorer, Daniel McBreennotched his 10th goal of the season.

The Phoenix were again punished late in the first half, as McBreen tapped in after Mark Paston had made a top save to stop Tom Rogic’s thunderbolt.

There were cries of offside, and indeed it was close, but the linesman’s decision to allow the goal appeared to be the correct one.

The result lifted the Phoenix into sixth place before last night’s late games, and while large patches of the game were again uninspiring, they deserve credit for hanging in and finishing with a late surge.

Not many teams have got points off Central Coast this season and the Phoenix have a good chance to start turning their disappointing season around with another home game against the Melbourne Heart on Thursday.

‘‘Really pleased to get something out of the game,’’ Herbert said.

‘‘Some of the games we’ve gone into, we probably shouldn’t have, but I thought tonight we were very good. We threw the young boys in there [ Tyler Boyd and Louis Fenton] and . . . I thought we shifted the ball really well tonight and a really, really positive performance, very pleased.’’

Herbert’s side had started brightly with Kiwi teenagers Boyd and Fenton both prominent with their pace and endeavour down the flanks.

But, as they had earlier this season, in a 1-0 win the Mariners were happy to soak up the early pressure and back themselves to eventually break down a side lacking confidence.

Sure enough, the Phoenix began to run out of ideas, and it looked like another steady diet of hopeful balls into the box would be dealt with by the league’s most stingy defence. The Phoenix clearly became frustrated with themselves and Kiwi referee Peter O’Leary – who did them no favours – and things were summed up when Boyd and Jeremy Brockie collided with one another and ended up sprawled on the turf.

The crowd of 5961 were also getting antsy with the performance but Sanchez’s strike, and an exciting cameo from substitute Totori, gave them some cause for cheer.

Herbert is looking to sign a fullback or attacking midfielder during the January transfer window.

The Phoenix have some room to move under the salary cap after striker Mirjan Pavlovic’s contract was ‘‘terminated by mutual consent’’ earlier in the season. HE’S NOT quite retiring yet – but Black Caps allrounder Jacob Oram has made the first step towards pulling stumps on his cricketing career.

Yesterday, New Zealand Cricket announced that they and Oram had mutually agreed an early release from his Black Caps playing contract – which runs through to July 31 next year.

Oram – who last played for New Zealand in a one-day international against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on November 6 – told the Sunday Star-Times the decision to end his NZC contract early was a tough one, but one that had been coming for a while. Its motivation came from his age, and growing young family back home in New Zealand.

‘‘Since Sri Lanka especially, I’ve been home for three or four weeks now, and I just thought to myself and took stock of where I was,’’ Oram said.

‘‘I said to myself, do I want to keep going for the rest of this contract year that goes through to August? After the South African tour, there is England home, England away, the Champions Trophy – it’s a massive contract year.

‘‘With the impending birth of my second child and just the way my body is now, even club cricket is taking it out of me.

‘‘ You’ve got the advent of Twenty20 leagues around the world and getting a few knocks on the door from that – you throw all that into the melting pot and my decision was clear, but still a very, very tough decision to make.

‘‘While I haven’t retired as such – and I want to stress that – it is a career move. It is a change to what I’ve only ever known in the last 12 years.

‘‘It’s a daunting decision, but I feel better now 24 or 48 hours after I made that call.’’

Since 2001, the lanky Central Districts all-rounder has played 33 tests, 160 one- dayers and 36 Twenty20 internationals in an often injury blighted career.

Recent years have seen Oram excel more at the shortest form of the game – which he said is set to become his focus over the next year.

His

situation somewhat mirrors that of former Black Cap Scott Styris who, after retiring from the international game, has become something of a T20 league mercenary. Oram said he wouldn’t play for as many different teams, preferring to spend more time with his young family in the coming year. After playing out the HRV Cup with Central Districts over the next month, Oram will head to the Bangladeshi Premier League to play for the Chittagong Kings. Playing there will rule Oram out of a callup to the Black Caps for the upcoming England tour.

‘‘It was time to pull back a little

I said to myself, do I want to keep going for the rest of this contract year that goes through to August? After the South African tour, there is England home, England away, the Champions Trophy – it’s a massive contract year. Jacob Oram

bit, and when you pull back, and can’t commit 101 per cent to 12 months of New Zealand cricket, I thought it was wrong to take a contract when there was people out there more committed to it 12 months a year,’’ Oram said.

NZC said another player will now be offered the veteran allrounders’ contract for the remainder of the contract period, likely to be decided over the next fortnight.

Oram maintained his decision was not motivated by the recent fallout at NZC due to the poorly handled sacking of Black Caps skipper Ross Taylor.

‘‘Now was the time. The sun is out, it’s Christmas time, and my family is only going to get bigger so I want to put them first now.’’