New Zealand’s decision-makers may now wonder at the sequence that saw him play against the two aforementioned nations, only to report soreness and stiffness during the match against the Proteas that has now been revealed as a stress fracture that will keep him out of the game for another year.

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At 29, Jamieson is at the age where the likes of Reid, James Pattinson and former Kiwi spearhead Shane Bond were unable to shrug off chronic deterioration.

Nevertheless, Jamieson is maintaining a level of optimism, even if he admitted that it took him several days to process the grief of missing what shaped as the biggest assignment of his Test career to date - New Zealand and Australia occupy the top two positions on the WTC table.

“I’ve got a bit of a roadmap as to how to manage it,” Jamieson said. “I know some of the hurdles I’ll have to overcome, probably more mentally and emotionally, the physical side is the easy part. You just rest and build back up. It’s almost autopilot in a way.

“It’s more the mental hurdles, months on end, you are halfway through and a fair bit of time has gone and there’s still a fair chunk of time away. It’s tough because you don’t want to go through it again. You hope that each time is the last time but I’m also 6′8″ and trying to bowl fast, so I know it’s definitely part of the journey.”

For an Australian batting line-up that has spluttered noticeably over the past nine months since the first two Ashes Tests in England, the avoidance of a showdown with Jamieson will undoubtedly make their task less tricky.

“It’s always disappointing when you lose young fast bowlers out of the game, it was something that came through when we landed,” head coach Andrew McDonald said on arrival in New Zealand.

“So it’s disappointing for him, disappointing for New Zealand, you want the best players out there, but unfortunately fast bowling comes with those risks and he’s going to be out for a little while.”

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