James Neesham: Internet troll by night, cricketing hero by day

Back in 2015, James Neesham did an AMA on Reddit and among the many fun questions, one particular asked, "What are you thinking as you are batting?"

Neesham could have gone with any number of generic, corporate answers. Something like how he focuses on one ball at a time. Or how he frees his mind and tries not to think too much when batting.

But what he replied was:

"Ok get through the first couple of balls. Jeez that was quick. Ok knuckle down here. Oooh that girl's quite pretty-Oi stop it, concentrate. Watch the ball. Shit that came off the bat quite nicely. I wonder how long it is til lunch? These pants are a bit tight, maybe I should get some new ones. Watch the ball. NO KANE NO. Come on mate there's no run there, jeez. Oooh it's lunch, I wonder if there's cheesecake?"

Since then, and maybe because of that, the cricketing world has loved Jimmy Neesham. Even when he's not playing, Jimmy Neesham has fans in the online world who consider him one of their own.

Not just on Reddit, but even on Twitter Jimmy Neesham pops up every day with a witty take or two, and he that is what makes him fun. In this day and age where most players have a PR team hired to keep things civil and polite, Neesham being himself and chaotic makes him all the better.

"Being himself and chaotic" - That is what he was against England in the semifinal of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup as well.

When he walked out to bat, New Zealand needed 60 runs from 5 overs. Not exactly impossible, but definitely an uphill task against one of the best bowling lineups in the tournament. Add to the equation the pressure of it being the semifinals of a premium tournament, and things can go wrong pretty fast.

But to one who subjects himself to the abuse and volatility of social media, this is almost nothing.

Neesham, with a sigh of relief after New Zealand won

Neesham's innings left England puzzled out in the middle

Chris Jordan's first ball was swatted over square leg in a flat six. The third ball was right in the slot and got hammered down the ground for a four. Two wides were added to this, because Jordan had been put under pressure.

And pressure makes people do things they shouldn't be doing. The fourth ball was all chaos. A slow ball outside off was dragged off for another boundary.

Six more runs for Neesham, and Chris Jordan's trademark running celebration was starting to look awkward. The next ball - Neesham kept swinging. Except this time there was no catching opportunity and New Zealand got a comfortable two.

Adil Rashid's next over did not get treated with any more respect. His second ball was slog-sweeped with disdain by the Kiwi's resident online connoisseur. However, by the time the over ended, Neesham was back in the hut.

And it did not really matter. 27 runs in 11 balls is a knock any team would kill to have from their finisher. 11 balls of no inhibition is what teams demand of their finishers.

Daryl Mitchell walked away from this game as Man of the Match, and very deservedly so. But without Neesham, New Zealand would not have won this.

May Neesham bless us with more tweets and make us chuckle. And may Neesham bless us with more such ridiculous knocks to make us drop our jaws! Neesham, the online troll, and Neesham, the cricketing star, complement each other oh so beautifully.

Poll : Who was your man of the match for the England vs New Zealand semi-final?

James Neesham

Daryl Mitchell

107 votes

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