Jimmy Neesham: ‘I didn’t feel like the matches we were playing mattered’

“You can drive yourself insane going through the last half-hour of that game saying ‘if only I’d done this or if only I’d have done that …’” On the eve of the 2023 Cricket World Cup, Jimmy Neesham is still being asked about the mind-mangling climax of the last one. That sun-dappled Sunday evening at Lord’s in 2019, the super overs and “the barest of margins” have proved tricky to outrun since he played on the losing New Zealand side that day.

“I naively thought that after a few years people might just get over it, but it’s almost the opposite” he says. “The benefit of some distance has sort of cemented it as the greatest game that’s been played in ODI history. It’s not going to diminish, I’ll still be asked about it in 50 years I reckon.”

The 33-year-old missed the Blackcaps’ white-ball tour of England last month for the birth of his first child, and “grabbed 11 hours straight sleep, bliss” on the plane over to India. Fresh-faced and bright-eyed, the high-altitude snooze has replenished his matinee idol looks – the all-rounder has been known to sport a debonair moustache and could easily pass as a wiry, younger Hemsworth brother. Known for his self-deprecating humour and adroit use of social media to rib the ridiculousness of cricket and the modern world, Neesham is a refreshingly honest presence in an increasingly anodyne game.

Back to that super over, then. “We’re incredibly fortunate to do what we do as cricketers and travel around the world and play a game for a living,” he says.

“If you want all the good stuff that comes with that, you have to drink your poison too. You have to accept that you’re going to have some shitty days every now and then. While that final at Lord’s was arguably the shittiest day, it’s not something that you can run away from.”

How much did it affect him, to lose a match, a World Cup final no less, in such a manner? “The later you are involved in those types of game the harder they are to wash from your mind.”

A pause and a thoughtful tug of buoyant quiff. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t spent plenty of time running through the dozens of things that I could have done differently, but you’re just going to go around in circles for the rest of your life if you think like that.”

Neesham brought Lord’s to its knees by smiting Jofra Archer for six off the second (legitimate) ball of that super over. The final was shown on terrestrial TV as well as Sky and watched by 15.4 million people in the UK. An England and Wales Cricket Board study revealed that for 31% of those it was the first game of cricket they had watched.

I tell Neesham about one of that number – my wife – whom he reduced to tears with that towering blow into the Mound Stand. A wicked smile stretches across his face. “Yeah, I hit that one well … I could have easily hit that next ball for six too and then it’s a very different equation.” He catches himself. “Like I say, I could reel off a lot of moments like that.”

Neesham hauled New Zealand to within two runs of victory, scoring 13 runs and facing every ball except the last delivery, which was left to his opening partner, Martin Guptill. “It was probably a little bit unfair on Martin, I ended up handing the poisoned chalice to someone who hadn’t faced a ball in a very long time.”

Four years on, Neesham can’t wait for another tilt at the big one over the next seven weeks in India. “From my point of view it’s the most prestigious trophy in the global calendar, I remember watching it as a kid and you have all these memories of moments from tournament’s past. I’ve got some as a player now too … there are only a handful of players who can say they’ve batted in a World Cup final super over – more people have been to the moon.”

He will not be using the memories of Lord’s as motivation though. “It’s a very dangerous game to be motivated by something like that. If you so desperately want to win because you see it as some sort of redemption you’re not in a very good mental space to execute what you’re trying to do.”

Neesham exudes the “Kiwi and chill” ethos that has been co-opted by many sides, England included. Yet he very nearly gave up the game during a couple of bleak years of injury and poor form five years ago. “I wouldn’t say I’ve always had a healthy relationship with cricket. I’ve absolutely hated it. There was a prolonged period where I would open the curtains in the morning and hope it was raining.” Those experiences helped him get past the World Cup final loss but it still wasn’t easy.

“I struggled for a couple of years after that final because I didn’t really feel like the matches we were playing mattered. That’s no disrespect to the opposition or anything but I would be out in the middle going, ‘I don’t really care.’ There’s no context to a lot of matches, there’s no pressure, there’s a lot of, like, whatever games.”

These experiences no doubt contributed to Neesham following the example set by Trent Boult in foregoing his New Zealand central contract last year, a move that makes him more fleet of foot to participate in franchise competitions. But he is unequivocal about where his focus lies, a certain rematch in front of up to 130,000 people in Ahmedabad.

“It’s really exciting, that first match of the tournament against England has nearly arrived.” He unfurls a knowing grin. “So, I know I’ve just said all that stuff … but a repeat of the last final in front of what should be an amazing crowd. Hopefully we can go a little bit better than we did last time, I mean, just one run better would be good.”