Black Caps pace bowler Kyle Jamieson has been out of the national frame for over a year now, grappling with a back injury that in the end required serious surgery.
But nearly 14 months on, he feels he's back to 100% and fit for selection with the T20 squad to tour to the UAE announced tomorrow.
It’s been a long journey featuring a daily commute to Lincoln – a drive that has become a bit of meditation session for the pacer.
At the beginning there were questions around what his injury meant and he could have done things differently but after a while it shifted to what really matters.
“How do I approach the next stint?”
The burly fast bowler had a meteoric rise in international cricket following a stellar debut campaign in 2020. The 28-year-old has taken 72 wickets in 16 Tests at an average of under 20, and played a key part in New Zealand's World Test Championship victory.
But Jamieson has been out of action since June last year and while he was set for a comeback at home in February this year, he suffered another setback and was ruled out before the opening Test against England despite seven months of intensive rehab.
“It was certainly an interesting 24-48 hours,” Jamieson recalled of the England series.
“We'd been scanning the whole way through as a guide to where things were at. When I came home [injured initially] there was no way I could've bowled in the pain I was in at that point in time with a stress reaction, yet [before the England series] I was bowling and playing with relatively no discomfort at all with a full blown stress fracture.
“So that was a really hard thing – it was like, ‘hold on, I can bowl but yet I’m theoretically in worse position than when I came home initially’.”
It was a difficult setback for Jamieson to take, but some wise words from Crusaders coach Scott Robertson helped him focus on the road ahead.
"I actually spoke to Razor about it. He said it's quite a nice little circuit breaker at times to reset and build yourself for another crack at it."
After surgery, Jamieson actually spent some time at the Crusaders getting himself back on his feet, with a clear goal in mind – this year’s World Cup.
“It's been a huge part of it,” Jamieson said.
“I’m not afraid to admit that – I’ve spoken to [Black Caps coach Gary Stead] about it as well, it’s been a huge motivator for me.”
In fact, he’s putting motivation everywhere he can.
“I’ve got a screensaver with myself, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult and Tim Southee with the mace after that Test final and not so much the winning of a pinnacle event but playing with those guys, it’s something that motivates me and one of the biggest things I’ve loved being in this Black Caps team is playing with all these guys who've been round such a long period of time.
“That for me is something I want to be part of – part of a pinnacle event with those guys and share those experiences before potentially there starts to be a bit of a transition period.
“Whether that happens or not I’m not sure but that’s something I’ve had my eyes on and I’ve spent 13 months now trying to improve my game with that in mind.”
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