Stead lauds Jamieson decision
Gary Stead is excited to see what rewards Kyle Jamieson will get from his self-imposed absence from the Indian Premier League.
Jamieson is part of the New Zealand squad to contest the three-test series against England next month and will go into the tour on the back of a training stint at home, rather than a diet of Twenty 20 games like other key members of the Black Caps.
The towering seam bowler was one of the big purchases of the 2021 IPL auction when taken by Royal Challengers Bangalore for approximately NZ$3 million.
However, Jamieson failed to make an impression in the competition and decided not to make himself available in this year’s auction when Bangalore opted not to retain him, wanting instead to spend some time at home and work on improving his game.
So instead of playing in the
IPL alongside New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, fellow quick bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult, batter Devon Conway and allrounder Daryl Mitchell, the 27-year-old played in the Plunket Shield domestic first-class competition before ending his season with the Black Caps in three ODIs versus the Netherlands.
‘‘I’s a brave move for someone at Kyle’s age to make, but he’s obviously had some experiences there and worked out what he needs as a cricketer,’’ Stead said on Wednesday.
‘‘He wants to play all formats for New Zealand if he can, but test cricket being the pinnacle for him is really important for him.
‘‘I congratulate him for looking after what he thinks he needs to do to play test cricket, first and foremost.’’
Jamieson made a sensational start to his test career in 2020 and continued his wicket hauls last year against Pakistan, England and India in the World Test
Championship final.
He had his first wicket-less test versus India in the second test in Mumbai last December and also struggled in the first test at home in the shock loss to Bangladesh at Bay Oval.
Jamieson bounced back with six wickets in the second-test win before taking six wickets in the two-test drawn series versus South Africa in Christchurch, which left him with the still highly-impressive career figures of 66 wickets in 14 tests at an average of 18.72.
‘‘I think he’ll be the first to say he just didn’t feel quite right last year and maybe through a workload issue as well,’’ Stead said.
‘‘I guess we’re not going to know until we’ve seen him.
‘‘He’s had a bit of a break. He’s looking fit and strong at the moment, so I’m excited to see what he’ll bring.’’
New Zealand will play two four-day warmup games prior to the first test starting at Lord’s on June 2.