Another non-surprise regarding Jake the Fake

Surprise

always plays out its own significant role in sport.

No more than so in recent weeks and days.

For instance, who would have thought that two
comprehensive All Blacks hidings over Ireland would have sandwiched in between

them a 22 to 19 close shave for the men in black in the second test.

And who would have thought that some
relatively unknown journeyman, Lukas Rosol managed to play tennis at such a
celestial level at Wimbledon, he brushed aside the redoubtable Rafael Nadal, a
champion who has built his stellar career on his refusal to give in amongst his

other sublime skills.

But
surprises such as these pale into oblivion, compared to the surprise that I and
thousands of other Black Caps fans receive each and every time that the
selectors continue to give Jake the Fake Oram yet another massively undeserved

contract inevitably at the expense of those candidates far more justified.

To be fair to Oram, he does regularly keep on
presenting a case to the selectors-for-a-day to be biffed out once and for

all.

The odd worthy performance, usually with the
ball, is invariably the exception amongst the overwhelming majority of

nothing-contributions, especially with the bat.

And always accompanying this mediocrity are

the injuries.

The never-ending, highly-consistent,
predictable array of injuries that Jake the Fake goes to great lengths to

explain and encourage fans to show more patience with on each occasion.

Patience Jake?

There
isn't enough patience available in the whole wide world to keep up with your Guinness

Book-like list of ailments over the years.

That's why when Oram supposedly sustained a
knee injury within minutes of this tour starting against the Windies in the
first T20 game, the "least surprise scenario" in world sport has

again cropped up for what feels like the zillionth time to me.

In other words, cricketing's version of

Groundhog Day.

What makes this repetitive joke of giving
Oram endless contracts worse is when there is a stronger case for far more deserving

and obvious candidates such as Mark Gillespie, Neil Wagner.

Gillespie
is also injury prone, he's carrying niggles right now but produces nowhere

near the deluge that always accompanies Oram.

He sliced through the South Africans
repeatedly last summer which prompted the world's greatest all-rounder, Jacques

Kallis, to enquire as to why Gillespie had been overlooked when available?

And Neil Wagner couldn't have been more
impressive in taking swags of wickets for Otago and becoming the highest

wicket-taker in the last two Plunket Shield tournaments.

I can only assume that Jake the Fake must
always be able to rely upon having the ear of the most important decision-makers
of the day which in turn, contributes to that undeniable conclusion that the
Blacks Caps have a club-like set-up where it's often easier to gain entry into

than being expelled.

All
of which hardly amounts to developing a culture of rewarding performance and

thereby building depth.

Your thoughts please.