Jimmy Neesham is probably cricket’s funniest man
Since its inception, purists have expected cricket to be a gentleman’s game, with decorum as clean as the Test cricket whites.
Of course, everyone knew it wasn’t so. When men compete, there always will be banter – some good-natured, some brutal. A lot of it occurred on the field. But most of it has remained under wraps.
That changed with social media. Players jumped on Twitter and Instagram, sharing news about themselves directly with their followers, much to the chagrin of journalists. Players also openly shared witty jokes and remarks which would earlier remain limited to the dressing room, where they evoked chuckles or guffaws even. And followers lapped it all up.
Everyone loves someone with a funny bone. New Zealand cricketer Jimmy Neesham has plenty of them, and he makes no bones about it.
Here are nine funny tweets that he smashed out of the park.
1. “Just doing my job!”
Kane Williamson scored a career-best 251 in the first Test against the West Indies. And Neesham gave the tale a twist with a caption only he could’ve thought of.
Clearly, Neesham loves his skipper. Or does he?
We’ll let you decide. Leave a comment to let us know what you think.
2. Who is a match-winner?
In a YouTube video, Aakash Chopra dissected Kings XI Punjab’s loss to Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020. He came down heavily on the KXIP management for picking Neesham over Mujeeb ur Rahman, saying Neesham was “not really a match-winner.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
(If you want to research players the way Neesham researched Aakash Chopra, you can check out the stats section on Sportskeeda.)
3. The ship has sunk!
Many hearts were broken over the way New Zealand lost in the 2019 World Cup final. Apparently the ICC felt the same way, for they changed the super-over rule a few months later. Jimmy Neesham used this chance to let out some pent up steam.
5. Kiwi support for a Kiwi
In case you didn’t guess by now, Jimmy Neesham was talking about Ben Stokes. Stokes was the architect of England’s 2019 World Cup final victory, but Neesham didn’t hold it against him for long.
When Stokes almost single-handedly won the third Test of the Ashes for England, Jimmy Neesham dug into his sense of humour to say, “Well done!”
Speaking of Stokes, he probably gets hiccups each time Virat Kohli gets angry on the field. And he doesn’t find it funny.
But Jimmy Neesham doesn’t just troll others. Like a good sportsman, ever so often, he even takes a dig at himself.
6. Backyard AB de Villiers
Come on, Neesh! We know it’s not nice to make kids cry on Christmas.
7. “Mea Culpa”
Jimmy Neesham didn’t have a great IPL 2020. In five matches, he only scored 61 runs and picked up two wickets. So when Twitter reminded him about it after his fiery 48 not out against the West Indies in the first T20I, Neesham put his hand up. (Although he ensured he was not the only one who did).
8. “When Dhoni is behind the stumps…”
In the fifth ODI of the series between India and New Zealand in 2019, Jimmy Neesham looked threatening on 44. But in a momentary lapse of concentration, he left the crease without knowing where the ball was. And he learned that you don’t do that when Dhoni is behind the stumps the hard way.
Even the ICC agrees!
9. Watch your sweep!
During the second unofficial ODI between New Zealand A and India A, the Kiwi all-rounder tried a reverse sweep off Krunal Pandya but ended up injuring himself. After being fixed by the physio, Jimmy Neesham took to Twitter to generously share his wisdom for the benefit of humankind.