Neesham prioritises bowling
The guy who slammed 33 off one over on Thursday says his focus is on bowling.
Jimmy Neesham made a spectacular return to the New Zealand ODI side in their 45-run win over Sri Lanka in Mount Maunganui, hitting five sixes in one over as he made an unbeaten 47 from just 13 balls.
Only the end of the innings stopped the all-rounder from breaking AB de Villiers’ record for the fastest one-day international half-century (16 deliveries).
But Neesham, who hadn’t played for the Black Caps ODI side since June, 2017, said his 3-38 off eight quality overs was probably more important to him.
‘‘Bowling’s been the main focus for me really over the last year and a half or so since I got left out of the team,’’ Neesham said.
‘‘I pretty much now train as a frontline bowler and get my batting training done when I can.’’
Neesham even found himself left out of the Otago team last summer and made a switch to Wellington for the 2018-19 domestic season, immediately starring in the one-day competition with the bat while making strides with the ball.
‘‘The move to Wellington has been really good for that – Hamish Bennett [Wellington captain and quick bowler] has been amazing to work with,’’ he said.
‘‘The increased load, the increased number of balls I’ve been bowling is helping a lot.
‘‘It’s about trying to be as relaxed as possible, to stay loose, and I know that I’ve got the ability to bowl up around that 140 [kmh] mark and if I’m bowling well, that’s good enough. It’s just a case of being more consistent and that was a good start yesterday obviously.’’
Neesham said he’s been aiming for more stamina and felt that was evident on Thursday night.
‘‘I was keeping a little eye on the speed gun in that second spell and it was still reasonably up there at the seven-eight over mark, which has been a bugbear of mine in the past.’’
Confidence around his technique is also growing.
‘‘When I went to Auckland and spent the winter in Auckland by myself, I bowled by myself and it was a breath of fresh air not to be concentrating on technical things every training session. It was more about how the ball was feeling coming out.
‘‘Now with Hamish Bennett’s work I’ve got the confidence at the top of my mark that if I do everything right and my fingertips release the ball properly then it’ll come out as quick as any all-rounder around.’’
His whirlwind innings came without any great expectation though.
‘‘I had probably the three worst nets of my life in the three days leading up to the game,’’ he laughed.
‘‘I just decided I’d try and take a couple of balls from [Lasith] Malinga at the other end and then get going with the wind from the other end.’’
When he hit the first four balls of Thisara Perera for six in the 49th over and Perera then bowled a no-ball that got hit for two more, there were brief thoughts the over could be more expensive than the newly-created one-day world record at international or domestic level, when Central Stags youngster Willlem Ludick went for 43 in November.
‘‘I actually thought that walking off . . . I thought he might have been at home watching TV paying pretty close attention,’’ Neesham said.
‘‘That’s the way the game’s going these days, there’s going to be a lot of high scores likes that, especially with the way the guys are striking the ball – I’m sure Willy can be sure that record will be erased eventually.’’
Despite the outstanding return with bat and ball, the 28-year-old said he’d have been happy just to be back in the national team fold.
‘‘I wasn’t really too concerned with the runs and wickets to be fair, I think it was more about trying to enjoy returning to the team again and getting around the lads. They’ve been really welcoming with me coming back into the group and it was just a lot of fun yesterday really.’’
However, a continued run in the side and a place in the squad for the World Cup is likely to be bad news for online fans, with Neesham set to curtail his tweeting activity. ‘‘Kane’s [Williamson] not a big fan of social media so I made a mention of that when I came into the group and he seemed pretty happy that’ll be on the backburner.’’