Jamieson's Resilience after a Lengthy Injury Layoff: Climbing back from the 'Bottom of the Cliff'

New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson last appeared in international cricket a year ago. His time away from the game was largely due to a ten-month absence caused by a recurring stress fracture in his back. However, he has now been selected to join New Zealand's squad for the Champions Trophy as a replacement for the injured Lockie Ferguson. Despite his injury setbacks, Jamieson feels he is currently at the peak of his cricketing abilities and is excited to be back on the field.

Jamieson last played for New Zealand in the first Test against South Africa in February 2024 before being sidelined with the injury. His last ODI stretches back even further - to September 2023, against Bangladesh just before the World Cup. Looking back at his time off, Jamieson said his comeback happened to work out "roughly around the time-frames we looked at".

"I had a good crew around me, and the start of it was trying to put that all together around, what that's going to look like, and how we're going to get from where I was at the bottom of the cliff and how we're going to get back up to the top of it," he said after reaching Rawalpindi ahead of New Zealand's match against Bangladesh.

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Jamieson has had his share of injures in a short international career so far. In June 2022, he experienced "sharp pain" in his lower back, and walked off midway through his 17th over in a Test at Trent Bridge. Just ahead of the home Tests against England in early 2023, a suspected recurrence of the back injury ruled him out of action and he underwent surgery. It was only in August that year that Jamieson was back on the field, when he played five T20Is and three ODIs across the tours of the UAE and England. He then toured Bangladesh, where he played in two of the three ODIs.

New Zealand even named Jamieson as cover for an injured Matt Henry for the World Cup in 2023, before drafting him into the squad proper. Although Jamieson didn't get to play the tournament, he featured in both Tests on the subsequent tour of Bangladesh. However, a stiff hamstring ruled him out of the ODI series at home against the same opposition, and he also sat out of the T20Is on "medical advice". It was after that, halfway through the home series against South Africa, that Jamieson found himself away again.

"It's been a long one. Obviously, a lot of hard work [has gone into the comeback]," he said. "I had to go back to square one, and rebuild a few things. [I had to] try and solidify the foundations so I can get back to this arena and take on the different forms of cricket again. It's certainly been a long road, but it's quite funny once you're back in the mix and forget about how long it's taken."

In the lead-up to the Champions Trophy, Jamieson worked his way back by representing Canterbury in the Super Smash and Ford Trophy, New Zealand's domestic T20 and 50-over competitions respectively. He bagged 14 wickets at an average of 18.71 to be Canterbury Magician's highest wicket-taker in the Super Smash, where he played in all 12 matches.

"I really enjoyed being a part of a full campaign. You don't often get a chance to be a part of long stretches of time with your domestic team," he said. "From the cricket point of view, it was great to be back in the park and just see where your game's at. I was always reasonably confident that part was going to be okay, but it's just nice to obviously put it back into that arena. I guess those are some of the pressures and challenges that come with that sort of high-pressure cricket."

New Zealand face Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Monday, after beating Pakistan comfortably in the tournament opener. They then face India on March 2 in Dubai in what is the final group fixture of the tournament.