James Neesham is a New Zealand cricketer who has played for various domestic and international teams, including the Delhi Capitals, Guyana Amazon Warriors, and the Kolkata Knight Riders. He made his international debut in 2013 and has been a key player for the New Zealand team. Neesham has been involved in several controversies, including a tweet about MS Dhoni’s batting style that sparked a debate among cricket fans. He has also refused a contract offer from New Zealand cricket due to prior commitments with T20 leagues worldwide. Neesham has a strike rate of 66.32 in Test matches, 99.17 in ODI matches, and 161.41 in T20I matches.
| Match | Format | Date | Runs | BF | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 5th T20I | T20I | March 25, 2026 | 24 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 |
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 4th T20I | T20I | March 22, 2026 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 2nd T20I | T20I | March 17, 2026 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 72.73 |
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 1st T20I | T20I | March 15, 2026 | 26 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 123.81 |
| India vs New Zealand · Final | T20I | March 8, 2026 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 114.29 |
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 24th Match, Group D | T20I | February 14, 2026 | 23 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 153.33 |
| Match | Format | Date | Over | M | R | W | NB | WD | ECO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 5th T20I | T20I | March 25, 2026 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10.50 |
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 4th T20I | T20I | March 22, 2026 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.25 |
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 3rdT20I | T20I | March 20, 2026 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.33 |
| New Zealand vs South Africa · 2nd T20I | T20I | March 17, 2026 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |
| India vs New Zealand · Final | T20I | March 8, 2026 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11.50 |
| South Africa vs New Zealand · 1st Semi-Final | T20I | March 4, 2026 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14.00 |
| Series | Format | Date | Runs | BF | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa tour of New Zealand 2026 | T20I | Mar 15, 2026 - Mar 25, 2026 | 64 | 64 | 4 | 1 | 100.00 |
| ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 | T20I | Feb 7, 2026 - Mar 8, 2026 | 31 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 140.91 |
| ICC Men's T20 World Cup Warm up Matches 2026 | T20 | Feb 2, 2026 - Feb 6, 2026 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 130.00 |
| Bangladesh Premier League 2025 | T20 | Dec 26, 2025 - Jan 24, 2026 | 87 | 69 | 6 | 4 | 126.09 |
| International League T20 2025 | T20 | Dec 2, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026 | 56 | 43 | 4 | 1 | 130.23 |
| Nepal Premier League 2025 | T20 | Nov 17, 2025 - Dec 13, 2025 | 99 | 61 | 5 | 8 | 162.30 |
| Series | Format | Date | Over | M | R | W | BBi | ECO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa tour of New Zealand 2026 | T20I | Mar 15, 2026 - Mar 25, 2026 | 10 | 0 | 102 | 2 | 1/10 | 10.20 |
| ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 | T20I | Feb 7, 2026 - Mar 8, 2026 | 17 | 0 | 181 | 6 | 3/46 | 10.65 |
| Bangladesh Premier League 2025 | T20 | Dec 26, 2025 - Jan 24, 2026 | 25 | 0 | 177 | 5 | 2/24 | 7.08 |
| International League T20 2025 | T20 | Dec 2, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 1/7 | 14.50 |
| Nepal Premier League 2025 | T20 | Nov 17, 2025 - Dec 13, 2025 | 10 | 0 | 103 | 5 | 3/47 | 10.30 |
| West Indies tour of New Zealand 2025 | T20I | Nov 5, 2025 - Dec 22, 2025 | 9.4 | 0 | 84 | 4 | 2/31 | 8.69 |
| Format | Matches | Innings | Runs | BF | HS | AVG | SR | Not Out | 4s | 6s | 50s | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEST | 12 | 22 | 709 | 1069 | 137 | 33.7600 | 66.3200 | 1 | 88 | 11 | 4 | 2 |
| ODI | 76 | 65 | 1495 | 1496 | 97 | 28.2000 | 99.9300 | 12 | 128 | 38 | 7 | 0 |
| T20 | 344 | 279 | 4734 | 3365 | 97 | 22.9800 | 140.6800 | 73 | 368 | 214 | 13 | 0 |
| T20I | 105 | 77 | 1105 | 761 | 48 | 20.0900 | 145.2000 | 22 | 85 | 55 | 0 | 0 |
| List A | 151 | 133 | 3699 | 3476 | 128 | 34.5700 | 106.4100 | 26 | 333 | 122 | 22 | 3 |
| First Class | 69 | 115 | 3374 | 4719 | 147 | 32.1300 | 71.4900 | 10 | 451 | 52 | 18 | 5 |
| Format | Matches | Innings | Overs | Balls | Runs | Wkts | AVG | Econ | SR | Bbi | Bbm | 4w | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEST | 12 | 21 | 179.20 | 1076 | 675 | 14 | 48.2100 | 3.7600 | 76.8000 | 3/42 | 3/42 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ODI | 76 | 72 | 408.00 | 2448 | 2556 | 71 | 36.0000 | 6.2600 | 34.4000 | 5/27 | 5/27 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| T20 | 344 | 288 | 789.10 | 4735 | 7149 | 283 | 25.2600 | 9.0500 | 16.7000 | 5/22 | 5/22 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| T20I | 105 | 75 | 175.10 | 1051 | 1611 | 64 | 25.1700 | 9.1900 | 16.4000 | 5/22 | 5/22 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| List A | 151 | 134 | 830.50 | 4985 | 4853 | 165 | 29.4100 | 5.8400 | 30.2000 | 5/27 | 5/27 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| First Class | 69 | 116 | 1209.30 | 7257 | 4175 | 125 | 33.4000 | 3.4500 | 58.0000 | 5/65 | 6/82 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Match | Format | Date | Runs | BF | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MI Cape Town vs Pretoria Capitals · 30th Match | T20 | February 2, 2025 | 32 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 133.33 |
| Pokhara Avengers vs Janakpur Bolts · Match 8 | T20 | December 5, 2024 | 40 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 200.00 |
James Neesham is a high-profile and successful athlete, and as such, he has faced his share of controversies over the years.
On 16 May 2019, during the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, MS Dhoni was announced as not out by the third umpire. Many players debated that the decision was wrong, and because of the camera angle, it appeared that Dhoni was inside the crease. James Neesham tweeted- “I love how passionate some fans are about our sport. I have huge respect for MS but how anyone could see the below photo and say it’s not out truly astounds me” This attracted a lot of attention from Dhoni fans and flooded his tweet with replies. Neesham later deleted the original tweet, and he sent out another tweet explaining why he did so.
| Batsman | MS Dhoni, Martin Guptill |
| Bowler | Tim Southee |
| Cuisine | Chinese |
| Singer | Celine Dion |
Test – 66.32, ODI- 99.17, T20I- 161.41
New Zealand allrounder, has refused a contract offer from New Zealand cricket, citing prior commitments with T20 leagues worldwide.
Neesham married long-time partner and former Magic netballer Alex MacLeod-Smith
IPL 2022 – INR 1.5 crore
