Neesham taking a break
New Zealand and Otago all-rounder Jimmy Neesham is taking a break from cricket and his return date is unconfirmed.
The 27-year-old was dropped by Otago Volts coach Rob Walter for their December 27 Twenty20 Super Smash clash against Auckland in Alexandra due to poor form.
Since then, Neesham has been on a break from the game as he looks to refresh, with the blessing of his employer New Zealand Cricket.
After two weeks off, Neesham is back training and working on his game, but not with the Volts. He is in Auckland.
Spokesman Callum Elder said NZC initially agreed Neesham would take a break from cricket to freshen up, after he was dropped by Otago.
While a return date is not confirmed, Elder said Neesham is back training.
‘‘He is talking to Otago and they will work through a potential return.’’
Neesham did not want to comment when contacted.
During the Super Smash season Neesham struggled, scoring just 18 runs in three innings while taking five wickets at 24.80. His economy rate with the ball was an issue, going at 11.23 an over. The Volts have struggled in his absence, too, and are bottom of the table with one win from nine matches.
Earlier in the year, Neesham made a decent start to the Plunket Shield season with six wickets at 26.5, while averaging 26.71 with the bat.
One of NZC’s 21 contracted players for 2017-18, Neesham was a Black Caps frontliner at the Champions Trophy last June but was left out of the subsequent tour of India.
Coach Mike Hesson said at the time that he wanted Neesham to go and ‘‘dominate domestic cricket with both bat and ball’’.
‘‘We know Jimmy is a talented player, but we’ve spoken with him around improving the consistency in all areas of his game.’’
In Neesham’s absence, and with Corey Anderson recovering from back surgery, Colin de Grandhomme has made the Black Caps all-rounder spot his own with some impressive performances.
Neesham has played 12 tests, 41 oneday internationals and 15 Twenty20 internationals for New Zealand since his 2012 debut.