Yes, I thought Bumble was talking out of his aess TBH. Oram bowled brilliantly, nothing less, for my money. He was getting bounce, seam, and was dropping it on a sixpence. Pietersen
did try to attack him, but even he found it impossible and resorted to trying to play him out (then went after Gillespie, and played around one that swung in which he might have kept-out had he played it more circumspectly...) which he just about managed.
The rest of the bowlers weren't, for the most part, anywhere near as good, though they all got batsmen to play-and-miss. But Oram was fantastic, there wasn't that much in the surface but he was extracting every last thing it offered him. Trying to attack him would, IMO, have been foolhardy, and if they had tried he might have gone for 19 or 20 off his first 9 overs rather than 4, but I reckon he could've had 4 or 5 wickets (and he should've had 3 anyway). Even trying to pinch singles (which involves opening the face, closing the face, playing slightly accross the line and the like) would not have been wise. For mine, the caution earlier allowed Ambrose to come in and play the innings he did.
Look around, you'll see scores like Strauss' and Bell's really aren't that unusual. Plenty of batsmen play 30-odd balls for not-that-many. The thing is, good batsmen (better batsmen than Strauss has been of late
) stay in beyond this then up their strike-rates as they start to get their eyes in and the bowling becomes less threatening.