Wellington, November 4:

Allrounder Jacob Oram withdrew from New Zealand’s upcoming two-Test cricket tour to Australia with a back injury he sustained last month in Bangladesh.

While recent tests have shown no serious injury, Oram on Tuesday said he was taking a cautious approach to recuperation and aimed to be fully fit for New Zealand’s home series against the West Indies in December.

“We could have pushed hard for the Australian tour, we could have tested it, trialed it, maybe even gone and had a fitness test to see if I could have made it,” Oram said. “But the worrying thing was that it isn’t 100 per cent at the moment and if we made it even worse then it meant the West Indies series was probably in jeopardy.”

Australia and New Zealand will meet in two Tests starting in Brisbane from November 20.