“Kids, don’t take up sport” says traumatised James Neesham after New Zealand’s loss in the Final

James Neesham was a crucial element for New Zealand in the 2019 edition of the World Cup. After making his ODI comeback in the series against Sri Lanka, the Auckland-born earned the right to ply his trade in the mega event. Neesham scored 232 runs in 10 matches, batting in the middle-order, at an average of 33.14. His top score of 97* came versus Pakistan at the Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Neesham was excellent with the ball as well, having picked up 15 wickets with a five-wicket haul against Afghanistan in Taunton. He was faced with probably the biggest task of his cricketing career on July 14. New Zealand was fighting with hosts and favourites England for the World Cup glory at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. Neesham returned with three priceless wickets in the run-chase.

He pinned English captain Eoin Morgan following which Liam Plunkett and Jofra Archer fell prey to him. Chasing 242, the Kiwis restricted the Brits to 241 and the game went into the Super Over. Neesham was nominated as one of the batsmen in the one-over eliminator. He showed a tremendous level of calmness and scored 13 off five balls during which Neesham also clobbered Archer into the stands over the deep mid-wicket region.

A heartbroken James Neesham

But to the Kiwis’ agony, Martin Guptill couldn’t complete the second run off the last ball and England won the tournament on the backs of ‘more boundaries hit’. After the heartbreaking loss, Neesham put up a series of tweets, expressing his extreme grief and agony. Furthermore, he congratulated the Brits.

“That hurts. Hopefully, there’s a day or two over the next decade where I don’t think about that last half hour. Congratulations @ECB_cricket, well deserved,” his first tweet read. In another message, he apologized for not delivering. “Thank you to all the supporters that came out today. We could hear you the whole way. Sorry, we couldn’t deliver what you so badly wanted,”

Lastly, he asked the aspiring cricketers to not take up sports as their profession and his comments are understandable, keeping in mind the agonies he has faced in the last 24 hours or so. The 28-year-old cricketer took to Twitter and wrote, “Kids, don’t take up sport. Take up baking or something. Die at 60 really fat and happy,”

Here is Neesham’s tweet