Jacob Oram joins White ferns as their bowling coach

Former Kiwi all-rounder, Jacob Oram has been appointed as the full-time bowling coach for the New Zealand Women’s cricket team. The Kiwi veteran of 229 internationals accepted an 18-month contract to join the White Ferns as their bowling coach. His past experience of grooming some female international cricketers helped his cause in being finalized as the right man for the prestigious job.

In a media release by the New Zealand cricket, the appointment of Jacob Oram even saw the extension in the coaching term for the batting coach, Matt Bell until the middle of next year.

After his selection as the coach, Oram expressed his views on the future prospects on his stint with the team, in his view, “There’s an immense amount of talent and potential in the team and I’m looking forward to working with the bowlers in particular, and seeing what improvements we can make.” The former all-rounder was ecstatic to join the Haidee Tiffen’s coaching team, “I’m really excited to come on board with the White Ferns and join Haidee Tiffen’s coaching team,” Oram said.

Head coach’s view on the selection

Haidee Tiffen, the head coach for the White Ferns was quite excited as he welcomed the new entrant in the coaching staff. In his view, it was a good contest for the spot in question between the three shortlisted candidates but it was Jacob’s working experience with some current players that provided him with the slight edge over the others. “Jake’s a great guy and builds strong relationships. We’ve seen what he can do through his work with Hannah Rowe at the Central Hinds and we’re looking forward to having him with us on a full-time touring basis,” said the head coach.

“Matt’s been working with the WHITE FERNS since 2014 and always brings great energy and knowledge to the group. I know the batting group, especially, will be excited to see him stay on in his role,”  Tiffen was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Tours ahead

Even before adorning the role, Jacob Oram has an eye set on the tough English tour in the upcoming season and the World T20 that is scheduled to take place later this year in November.“I’m really keen to spend some time with the players in camp and get an idea of how we can all improve. To go to any world tournament is a real buzz and I think it will be just as exciting as a coach,” he concluded.

The Women’s team is currently playing against the Windies in the GJ Gardner Homes ODI series at Christchurch as the part of  ICC Women’s Championship (IWC). A five match T20I series is scheduled to follow the ongoing ODI series in North Island from next weekend.

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates.