New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham believes that ball tampering will make Tests cricket interesting. He also quipped that AB de Villiers is the only player he would pay to watch at the moment. In days where cricket organizers are leaving no stones unturned to revive the lost glory of Test cricket, the New Zealand made a rather controversial comment on the same matter.
Neesham is a part of the New Zealand squad which is touring India but failed to make the playing XI at Green Park, Kanpur.
He said, “I would quite like to see what would happen if there were no rules on ball-tampering. If you could just do whatever you wanted to the ball. That would probably make Test cricket more interesting. It could make more tedious sessions more exciting with the ball reversing more.”
In 2015, New Zealand under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum reached the final but lost to Australia. New Zealand qualified for the final beating South Africa in an in a nail-biting game at Eden Park, Auckland.
Recounting the experience of the semifinal, Neesham said, “It was a crazy experience. I actually wasn’t going to go to the game. And then one of my friends who I knew through media work had a pass in a private area, so I could watch the match from a private room and not have to deal with the kerfuffle that goes on with that sort of situation. But it was a really special evening for New Zealand cricket.”
“I will pay to watch AB de Villiers. You don’t really pay to watch a lot of international cricketers if you are an international cricketer because it is a little hard to go in the stands and watch with the members of the public. It can get a little inconvenient, for obvious reasons.” said the ‘Black Caps’ member when asked for whom he would pay to watch live.
As New Zealand are touring India they will have a big task to nullify the spin of Ravichandran and Ravindra Jadeja.
“He is a high-quality bowler, a top-ten bowler at the moment, and in his own conditions, he will be a big challenge. But we have got some pretty good players of spin in our top order. We have been talking about ways to combat him. But I certainly won’t be giving away my plans here,” said Neesham.