Feels like things are getting together in my career, asserts Jimmy Neesham
At 29, Jimmy Neesham feels that things in his career are finally getting together and now his only goal is to play as many as possible for the Black Caps. Meanwhile, he is still affected by the World Cup final debacle but hopes that the incident doesn’t become career-defining for him.
The Super Over at the Lord’s final saw Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham on the losing end despite a tie against England, the World Cup champions. While he didn’t feature in the first T20I against England in Christchurch, Neesham(42) top scored in the 2nd T20I at Wellington. It marked Neesham’s return to the international setup for the first time since the Lord’s final. In the interim, he featured in the Global Canada T20 league and the Caribbean Premier League.
The all-rounder revealed that not playing against Sri Lanka right after the World Cup was a relief for him as he wasn’t prepared for it. While the World Cup final debacle has left a huge mark on his career, the 29-year-old hopes that it doesn’t become career-defining for him.
"I was almost thankful in the end not to be over there [the next tour in Sri Lanka] because I don't know how those Test guys got back into it so quickly," Neesham told Stuff.co.nz.
"That World Cup will always be part of the fabric of my career but it's certainly not something I'm hoping defines my career. Don't think it's about getting over it, it's just accepting it," Neesham revealed.
Before the World Cup, Neesham’s career wasn’t as smooth so now his major goal is to play every game for New Zealand and settle in as a finisher ahead of the T20 World Cup.
"I want to play every game I can for New Zealand. I just ticked over 29 and I'm at the stage of my career where I feel like I've started to get things together. When you try to hit at the death at T20 you don't want to leave guys like Tim Southee and Mitch Santner to do the lion's share of the work in the last 2-3 overs,” Neesham said.
"We talked about trying to bridge that gap. It was difficult to hit classical boundaries along the ground, on that ground, and it was just about picking a moment and a bowler to pull the trigger," he concluded.
