Kyle Jamieson expects to be "run into the ground" over the coming days bowling at Black Caps captain Kane Williamson.
Photo: Photosport Ltd 2021
Both Jamieson and Williamson will start making up for lost time overnight (Thursday NZT), when they will be allowed to leave their hotel rooms to train at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
The pair along with Black Caps all-rounder Mitchell Santner, trainer Chris Donaldson and physio Tommy Simsek will be in their own bubble for a few days having come from the Indian Premier League, via the Republic of Maldives.
Williamson has barely touched his bat since his last IPL match at the start of the month and Jamieson says the four of them will have to help each other get up to speed while they train apart from the rest of the New Zealand squad.
"I guess we will all just sort of muck in with flingers (ball throwers) and we've got myself and Mitch to bowl a lot of overs at Kane. I'm sure that'll be the case," Jamieson said.
"We'll probably be run into the ground while he hits a lot of balls.
"We've been joking about the fact that Kane hits so many balls that we'll just end up being net bowlers for him so we might just end up throwing to each other."
Jamieson is also aware that he needs to spend time working on his batting in order to become a genuine all-rounder in the New Zealand XI.
"Certainly got to make sure I take care of that batting side," he said.
Kyle Jamieson batting with Kane Williamson in the first test against the West Indies in Hamilton last year. Photo: PhotoSport / Andrew Cornaga
"We've got Chris Donaldson who's pretty good on the flicker as well so that'll be our volume from the pace side of things and Mitch and Kane can bowl as well too.
"I won't just be bowling to Kane the whole time. I might be doing that for a couple of hours and just trying to tie on 15 minutes on the end but we'll be certainly make sure I get that batting done."
While many of his team-mates have been playing PlayStation during their time in isolation, Jamieson has been watching docos, playing his guitar and reading books.
He is currently reading Japanese philosophy book The Courage to be Disliked.
"I actually enjoy the little time that you kind of get to yourself. I've actually quite enjoyed it.
"I don't know if you did it over a long period of time how good it'd be then but it's actually quite nice to take a few days to just sit back and reflect on how things have unfolded or where you're at.
"I think if you sit on your laptop or you ipad, phone and stuff the whole day the days can kind of drag out a little bit."
Photo: © Photosport Ltd
Having had a chance to reflect, Jamieson is now eager to start his first tour of England.
"Certainly when you have something that you love doing taken away from you for a period of time it sort of gets the hunger back up."
Jamieson is endeavouring to continue the remarkable start to his test career, which has seen him win six tests from six while averaging 13.27 with the ball and 56.50 with the bat.
"It's been a pretty surreal sort of journey so far. I kind of have to pinch myself at times around how things have kind of unfolded.
"I was happy to go to Aussie when I did and I thought sweet that's pretty cool in itself to be a part of a Boxing Day test.
"And then to have had the last 12 months I've had and to be able to potentially play a test at Lord's is certainly pretty special and surreal for me.
"It's always been a bucket list sort of item to just go to Lord's and do the tour there or just watch a match so to hopefully fingers crossed be able to run in from one end and try and win a game for New Zealand at Lord's will be pretty special and something I've looking forward to."
The first test at Lord's is scheduled to start on June 2.