James Neesham Gives His Views On The Super-Over And Overthrow Rule That Decided The 2019 World Cup

James Neesham was a part of the New Zealand team that came agonizingly close to winning the 2019 World Cup. In what eventually turned out to be one of the greatest ODI games of all times and certainly the best World Cup final in history, Eoin Morgan’s England were crowned champions of the world on the back of the boundary count rule.

According to the then rules, in the unlikely event of Super Over ending in a tie, the team who had hit the most number of boundaries in the actual 50-over game, were crowned as winners. The rule came under stringent criticism from both fans as well as pundits and the ICC have since then disbanded it, paving way for successive Super-Overs unless a clear winner is decided.

James Neesham, during a recent interview on ESPNCricinfo, was asked about his views on the rule change and also, how he would have liked the World Cup final to be decided in an event of a tied Super Over.

“It’s kind of human nature that things don’t change unless something catastrophic makes it apparent that it should happen. We have seen that with gun laws. Sometimes it takes a tragedy for people to see things shouldn’t be the way they are, ” James Neesham told ESPNCricinfo.

“We have American sports like Baseball going into extra innings and Basketball going into double and triple overtime. I would have just like to see another super-over really and I don’t think 26 or 27 guys on the ground would have disagreed” he added.

Also Read: “Will think about those 20 centimeters for the next 50 years”: James Neesham On Martin Guptill’s Run-Out In The 2019 World Cup Final Super-Over

‘There have always been these idiosyncrasies in cricket’- James Neesham on the overthrow rule

Another controversy that sparked during the World Cup final was when England were awarded six runs after a throw ricocheted off Ben Stokes bat. When asked about his views on the overthrow law, Neesham said that there have always been idiosyncrasies in cricket when it comes to cricket laws, adding that it is something that needs to be looked at.

“Its a strange game cricket. You know a batsman tries to leave the ball and it rolls away, it doesn’t count as runs, when he is running and the ball rolls away, it counts as runs. There have always been these idiosyncrasies in cricket. Maybe it needs to be looked at,” Neesham added.

That ricochet off Ben Stokes bat during the final overturned the game completely on its head as England managed to tie the match and enforce a super-over. The rest, as they say, is history.