NIAMH ROBERTSON-JACK: THE LONG ROAD BACK TO INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

In September 2023, 17-year-old Niamh Robertson-Jack made her Scotland debut as she helped her nation progress through the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier.

 

Just six months later, her international career was put on hold when an ACL injury sustained playing rugby sidelined the left-arm spinner for 15 months.

 

“I played rugby for Scotland, and I was actually playing rugby for school when it happened," said Robertson-Jack.

 

"It was a couple of minutes into one of the first games of the season, and a girl hit me in the side of the leg and I fell underneath her, and I just heard this massive crack -  you know when you’ve done it.

 

“I was in a bit of a denial phase thinking 'this can’t happen', because it was the same day I’d got the phone call to go to the World Cup Qualifiers in Dubai, so I went from a real high to crashing down."

 

Due to the nature of the injury, Robertson-Jack was unable to have surgery on her knee until July - meaning she was sidelined for four months before the rehab period began.

 

 

“The rehab was a long process, it's almost 12 months which is hard – re-learning how to walk, how to jump, how to run, and learning to trust your knee again after surgery is quite a daunting experience.

 

“There was a lot of crying, a lot of big breakdowns, but I had a really good support system around me.

 

“I played my first game back on 10 June. The physios and S&C had brought me back to that point that I was fit to play cricket, and it was such a good moment, I’ve never been so happy – I think I cried actually, I was so overcome with emotion.

 

“I worked really hard in the summer to get back, because it was a bit rocky still. I wasn’t sure if my knee would hold up, but I worked really, really hard in the gym and on the pitch, and got a lot of cricket under my belt."

 

 

Two years on from her first two Scotland appearances, Robertson-Jack is back in the squad as Scotland as Craig Wallace's side prepare to head to Thailand for the ICC Emerging Nations Trophy - a new T20 competition featuring the top eight associate sides.

 

“Craig phoned me - I was actually at rugby pre-season at St. Andrews when I got the call. I’d just gone for fun, playing some touch, because I couldn’t step away from it completely.

 

“When I went back into the circle the girls were so happy for me, and these were girls I’d just met a couple of weeks ago. They don’t know that much about me, other than that I'd torn my ACL, and they were so excited for me because they could see how buzzing I was to be going out to Thailand."

 

You can watch the full story of Niamh's recovery on the Cricket Scotland YouTube channel.