Kyle Jamieson is back with the Black Caps. Photo / Photosport
Kyle Jamieson is back with the Black Caps. Photo / Photosport
It’s taken 12 months for Kyle Jamieson to climb back from “the bottom of the cliff” but the bowler now feels in the best place he has ever been.
Jamieson has joined the Black Caps for the rest of their Champions Trophy campaign – starting with a clash against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Monday night – after flying out to replace the injured Lockie Ferguson.
The tournament is one Jamieson used as incentive while on the long road to recovery from his latest back injury, determined to again reach the heights that marked his explosive introduction to international cricket.
A stress fracture suffered last February in a test against South Africa cost the Cantabrian almost a year of his career and came only six months after returning from a similarly long spell on the sidelines.
But now he feels better than before, and with a few wickets and wins, may soon be back on top of the world.
“It’s been a long one,” Jamieson said. “I’ve had to go back to square one and rebuild a few things and try to solidify the foundation to get back to this arena and take on the different forms of cricket again.
“The start of it was trying to put it all together, how we were going to get from where I was at the bottom of the cliff back up to the top.
“I feel like I’m in the best place I’ve ever been from a cricket point, across the 10 or 11 years of my career. I’m just really excited for this next chapter.”
Jamieson will now be competing with Nathan Smith for the third seamer spot, with Canterbury teammates Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke leading the pace attack. That pair combined to shut down Pakistan as the Black Caps continued a winning run in their first fixture, as Jamieson discovered while somewhere high above the Indian Ocean.
“I missed that first game – I was flying and had the BBC headline come across my screen that the boys had won, so that was a nice little notification to get,” he said. “They’ve been playing some great cricket. Winning that tri-series and winning that first game, they’re carrying some momentum and the boys are just feeling good about their game.
Kyle Jamieson in action for the Black Caps. Photo / Photosport
“It’s a nice environment and atmosphere to come into. I can just lean into that and bounce off that energy.”
Jamieson will bring plenty of that from the crease, having enjoyed a full and successful Super Smash season with Canterbury. While initially overlooked for Champions Trophy selection, despite snaring 14 wickets in the T20 competition, the 30-year-old has since put another 16 overs under his belt in the Ford Trophy.
“I really enjoyed being part of a full campaign,” Jamieson said. “When you’re playing international cricket, you don’t really get a chance to have a long stretch of time with your domestic team. So I was able to really just be a Cantab and spend time with the Canterbury boys.
“It was great to just be back on the park and see where my game was at. I was always reasonably confident that part was going to be okay, but it was nice to be back in that arena and the challenges that come with high-pressure cricket.”
There could be a bit of that in the next couple of weeks, with a win over Bangladesh – brushed aside by India in their first game – almost sealing progression to the semifinals.
This is Jamieson’s first visit to Pakistan and he has still played only 13 ODIs since debuting five years ago. But if he earns selection, his 2.03m frame won’t be a particularly welcome sight for India in Dubai next Sunday, given his player-of-the-match exploits in the 2021 World Test Championship final.
“It’s something new for me,” Jamieson said of his first white-ball world event. “I’m not sure what we’re going to get over the next few days – whether I play as well.
“It’s just trying to be open-minded and adapt as best I can around what the conditions bring and what the opposition bring.”
