Now that he has his first Test behind him, Jacob Oram is set to make sure that the emotions he likes to have control over are back in harness when the second National Bank Series Test against India starts in Hamilton on Thursday.

Making his mark with some controlled bowling into the teeth of a Wellington northerly gale and fielding well, Oram had the misfortune of making a duck on his Test debut.

"Maybe I was a wee bit nervous and let that affect me which is disappointing because I am not normally the type who lets his emotions get to him and affect his play.

"I like to be cool and calm at the best of times," he said.

Reflecting on the events, he said he was a little wound up and was almost looking to survive rather than score the runs which was what he was there to do.

With that all behind him, Oram is looking ahead, knowing that once again there is certain to be bounce in the pitch for the match.

"It was very green when I worked out where it was today, but we expected that. This is what Hamilton is like, and it has been like this for the last couple of years. There's nothing new, it is nothing different to what we expected," he said.

As a bowler who has quickened his action, Oram enjoys having the extra bounce that is becoming part of New Zealand's pitches now.

"To play on a pitch that you can actually use to your advantage is really good," he said.

That comes after two State Championship matches on pitches that were dead and which didn't offer aggressive, positive cricket and which meant the bowler just had to bowl line and length to bore the batsmen out.

"I know that's what you've got to do sometimes, and it is the bottom line of bowling. But you want a wicket that's got pace and bounce in it so you can put something in and get something out of it, and good batsmen will score runs on it," he said.

It's been a quick adaptation to Test cricket for Oram who said the significant of the 10-wicket first Test win didn't really sink in until sitting back and realising that experienced players like captain Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle, and even manager Jeff Crowe, had never been part of a match that had finished so quickly.

"It suddenly dawned on me that this was something special, it was something rare, that it doesn't happen too often," he said.

Moving from the one-day environment in which he had experienced his international cricket, Oram felt there was a difference to the planning for match and it was different in the longer game because you could almost exploit people's weaknesses.

"We had a very, very attacking plan to a lot of these guys and that was the big difference I saw in the preparation," he said.

What happened last Saturday, after New Zealand had looked to score another 80-120 runs from their overnight position had been borne of the faith in the lower-order batsmen because there were no genuine tail-enders in the side.

"I don't think in our wildest dreams that we could have guessed what was going to happen in that second session.

"But I'd like to think that while we didn't imagine it, we planned for it and it is great to see what you talk about come off," he said.

That was partly due to the improved catching behind the wicket, something that had dented the pride of the slips cordon who pride themselves on their catching ability.

"I think the guys we have got in there are great catchers and they didn't show it. We wanted to show we can catch and we took some stunners in that second innings. It's really good to bounce back quickly," he said.

Getting up again for the second Test won't be too hard for Oram either.

There is unlikely to be a 50 knot gale blowing in his face when he runs in to bowl and as he said, the game would be more of a level playing field. He said he could have bowled 25 overs into the wind had it been required.

"The old saying, 'I'll do anything' definitely applies," he said.

And that has to be encouraging as New Zealand's resource base is further extended with the likes of Oram becoming a more regular part of the Test scene.

© CricInfo