James Neesham

A true all-rounder, James Neesham is a New Zealand cricketer who has represented his country in all formats of the game. He bowls right-arm medium-fast and represents Wellington in first-class cricket. Neesham made his Test debut against India, reaching an undefeated 137, which was the highest score by a Test number 8 batsman on debut. He became the first New Zealander to score hundreds in his first two matches when he scored a century in his second test against the West Indies in June 2014.

Neesham scored 34 runs in one over against Sri Lanka in the first One-Day International in January 2019, including five sixes. In an ODI match, this was the most runs scored in one over by a New Zealand batsman. Neesham was nominated to New Zealand’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He played in his 50th One-Day International in June 2019, in New Zealand’s World Cup opener. In the tournament, Neesham recorded his first five-wicket haul and 50th ODI wicket in a match against Afghanistan. He claimed the final wicket with a fantastic catch to eliminate Dinesh Karthik off Matt Henry’s delivery in the semifinal.

Neesham has made it public that he had pondered retiring from international cricket 18 months before the 2019 World Cup, due to poor form and injury issues, but Heath Mills, the then-CEO of the New Zealand Players Association, recommended that he take a three-to-four-week vacation instead. In 2021, Neesham was picked for New Zealand’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.