Neesham prioritises bowling on NZ return

WELLINGTON: He may have marked his return to the international fold by smashing 34 runs off one over, but New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham is concentrating on his bowling as he aims to seal a spot in the limited-overs set-up.

Neesham took 3-38 in the first One-day International against Sri Lanka – his first time in New Zealand colours in 18 months – and he was more thrilled about the wickets than his feats with the bat.

“Bowling’s been the main focus for me really over the last year and a half or so since I got left out of the team,” he said. “I pretty much now train as a frontline bowler and get my batting training done when I can.”

Neesham, who was also named in the Twenty20 International squad, broke back into the national team on the back of strong performances in domestic cricket. He credited the move from Otago to Wellington, where he got to work with captain and quick bowler Hamish Bennett, as behind the success.

“The move to Wellington has been really good,” he said. “The increased load, the increased number of balls I’ve been bowling is helping a lot.“It’s about trying to be as relaxed as possible, to stay loose, and I know that I’ve got the ability to bowl up around that 140 [kph] mark and if I’m bowling well, that’s good enough.

“I was keeping a little eye on the speed gun in that second spell and it was still reasonably up there at the seven-eight over mark, which has been a bugbear of mine in the past.”The increased stamina and not worrying about his technique too much had served to improve his confidence, he added.