James Neesham Opens Up On His Experience Of Playing A Match Behind Closed Doors

New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham revealed his experience of playing an ODI against Australia with no fan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in March. The first ODI of the three-match series between Australia and New Zealand was played behind closed doors and in front of empty stands in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Later, the ODI and the  T20I series between Australia and New Zealand was postponed. Australia won the ODI by 71 runs to end their five-match losing streak in ODIs. The teams were to play the second and third ODI on March 15 and 20 respectively.

Talking about the chain of events leading to the series being called off, James Neesham said he was amazed how quickly the situation changed.

James Neesham Opens Up On Playing Cricket Behind Closed Doors

“We were in Sydney for the ODI series and we joked about what was going on at the airport but the amount that it escalated to in the six-seven days was unbelievable. We played on Friday and on Saturday we were called for a meeting at two and by three we were on the bus to the airport. It was pretty quick and we were lucky to have reached home,” Neesham said.

“It was bizarre, totally different. At one point I was at long on and I could hear one security guard talking on his walkie talkie and I could also hear the voice of the other security guard on the other side of the ground. It was very strange,” he recalled.

Major Cricketing Events Come To A Hold After Coronavirus

Recently, the IPL 2020 was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak. To the disappointment of the cricket fans, the India-South Africa ODI series has also been called off. Apart from it, the Road Safety World Series has also been suspended.

The ECB had decided to postpone the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka due to the coronavirus pandemic. The series was to be a part of the World Test Championship (WTC).

All the English players playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) were called back immediately, and the tournament has been postponed.

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