FE Today Logo

Cattle, cricket and politics

Neesham World Cup’s most interesting man?

July 09, 2019 00:00:00


Jimmy Neesham

Eighteen months ago, New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham was trying to convince farmers to buy iPads. Today, he is preparing to play in a World Cup semi-final.

That is merely one part of the story of what might be cricket's most interesting man, who uses Twitter to air his views on President Trump and climate change, and has also sat a university exam during New Zealand's run to the last four.

The all-rounder was good enough to make centuries in each of his first two Tests. In this World Cup, he has a score of 97 not out and a five-wicket haul to his name. When the Black Caps won the match of the tournament so far against West Indies, it was Neesham who held his nerve to take the final wicket, according to BBC Sport.

But around the Christmas of 2018, when he was out of both the New Zealand team and domestic side Otago, Neesham was, in his own words, "fed up" with cricket and looking for a proper job.

"I suppose it becomes the only option when you don't want to play cricket any more, but you've got a mortgage," he explained.

He took up a part-time post as a communications assistant with Halter, a company dealing in electronic collars for the remote herding of cows.

"I know about 500 times more about cows than I did a year ago.

"One of the things I really enjoyed about working was that how much you got out was pretty much equal to what you put in.


Share if you like