'Coming for the big toe again' - Andrew Tye plays pre-match mind games with James Neesham

Ahead of the eighth match of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2022 between the Perth Scorchers and the Hobart Hurricanes at Launceston, Australian pacer Andrew Tye warned New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham to watch his toes having left the southpaw with a bleeding toe in their last face-off prior to this clash. Replying to one of Neesham’s old stories on Instagram Tye wrote that he was coming for the big toe again. 

Back in June this year, James Neesham had made a humble request to Andrew Tye and he placed his request by making a painful situation look comical. 

Neesham on his Instagram story had posted an image of his toe bleeding profusely and a towel was wrapped around the wound to stop blood from oozing out. He wrote, “Wide Yorkers next game please @andrewtye68 Sliding down leg I think.”

The incident took place during this year’s T20 Blast 2022 encounter between Northamptonshire and Durham. In that game, yorker specialist Andrew Tye had bowled a thunderous yorker that hit Neesham’s toe like a bullet and it got bruised. Luckily, nothing untoward happened and the Kiwi all-rounder did not have to miss any games during the competition because of the same.

Meanwhile, Neesham is participating in the ongoing BBL 12 as an overseas replacement player for the Hobart Hurricanes. In September this year, the southpaw had turned down the new central contract offered by New Zealand Cricket in order to make himself available for playing overseas franchise leagues. 

Coming back to the contest between the Perth Scorchers and the Hobart Hurricanes, the Tasmania-based franchise went on to register a hard-fought eight-run victory on the final ball of the game.

Batting first, the Hurricanes posted a competitive total of 172/8 on the board courtesy of a brilliant 29-ball 51 from skipper Matthew Wade.

In reply, wickets at regular intervals derailed the Scorchers’ innings and despite a valiant knock of 62 runs from 37 deliveries by wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, Perth were restricted to 164/8.