New Zealand have learned lessons from T20 World Cup flop: Neesham

Poor preparation derailed New Zealand’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign in 2024 but the Black Caps will leave no stone unturned as they approach next month’s global showpiece seeking their first title, all-rounder James Neesham said.

Determined to avoid another group-stage exit, New Zealand will head into the next edition in India and Sri Lanka with proper match practice thanks to a five-game T20 series scheduled against India from January 21-31.

“Obviously, the 2024 World Cup in West Indies, we were very under-prepared,” Neesham told Reuters via video call.

“We didn’t have any games going into the tournament, which wasn’t ideal, coming off the back of the Indian Premier League and a lot of guys being busy over there.

“We’ve rectified that and we’ve got a good series against a strong team getting into the World Cup.”

The 35-year-old said playing India on their own turf would help New Zealand finalise their starting 11 for the tournament, which begins on February 7.

“It’ll be good to have five games to test ourselves against them and hopefully get a couple of good wins, some good results, but mainly hopefully find our combinations and get ourselves well oiled before the World Cup,” Neesham added.

While Neesham remains a T20 regular for New Zealand he has not played for the national team in the 50-overs format since the 2023 World Cup.

“I’m certainly still available currently for that format,” he said.

“I haven’t quite decided what my future looks like internationally. I’ll probably have a think about that during this World Cup and probably make a decision one way or the other.”

That uncertainty is compounded by New Zealand’s new casual contract system, introduced last September, that allows marquee players to play in lucrative T20 leagues while remaining available for international duty.

Neesham, who played in the International League T20 with Dubai Capitals, said the system has left players in a “weird little limbo” by allowing them to join events like Australia’s Big Bash and still arrive late for the World Cup under contract.

The model risks weakening New Zealand if too many top players are absent, he said.

“You either have to have white-ball contracts specifically for these kinds of players that are actually worth a fair amount of money that will keep players available for New Zealand and in those formats, or you need to let guys go freelance and pick and choose whatever they want,” Neesham said.

“Currently as things stand in New Zealand, there’s probably not the depth of players that will allow us to still compete on the international stage, if we have 10, 11, or 12 of our top guys not available.

“It’s important that over the next major contract cycle or master agreement we have in New Zealand, it’s really fleshed out from that perspective to make the top T20 and one-day cricketers a bit more valuable from a financial point of view.”

Neesham said that a proposed domestic T20 competition might entice players to accept New Zealand contracts and be involved fully with the international team.

New Zealand begin their World Cup campaign against Afghanistan in Chennai on February 8.