Neisha Pratt

Neisha Pratt
Personal information
Full name
Neisha Anne Pratt
Born (1973-03-21) 21 March 1973 (age 51)
Te Awamutu, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeft-arm medium
RoleAll-rounder
International information
National sides
T20I debut (cap 5)9 August 2018 
Singapore v Malaysia
Last T20I12 August 2018 
Singapore v Malaysia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1999/00 – 2000/01Northern Districts Spirit
Career statistics
Competition WT20I
Matches 5
Runs scored 91
Batting average 18.20
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 48
Catches/stumpings 1/0
Source: Cricinfo, 15 April 2021

Neisha Anne Pratt (born 21 March 1973) is a cricket player, born in New Zealand, who has played international cricket for both Hong Kong and Singapore and also NZ domestic cricket for Northern Districts Spirit. She represented Hong Kong between 2006 and 2011, and also captained the side.[1][2][3] She made her Twenty20 International debut for Singapore against Malaysia in August 2018, at the age of 45.[4]

Hong Kong career

Pratt captained Hong Kong in their first official match in 2006, and as a result received cap number 1; the match was an Asian qualifying round match for the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup.[3][5] she took 1/44 from 10 overs and scored 16 runs as Hong Kong lost to Pakistan.[6][7] She captained the team in a 2007 Asian Cricket Council 30-over tournament in Malaysia.[8] In the opening match against Malaysia, she scored 71 runs in 77 balls, and took 4/4 in 6 overs.[8] In a 2008 series in Bangladesh, Pratt top-scored in the final two matches, making 35 in the second match of the series, and 61 in the final match.[9][10]

Pratt also captained the side that won the 2009 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship.[11] She scored a partnership of 76 with Keenu Gill in a group-stage match against China, which was the highest partnership in the group stages, and was also the player of the match in the group stage matches against Kuwait and Malaysia.[12] In the final against Thailand, Pratt scored 27 runs.[11]

In 2012, Pratt became ineligible to play for Hong Kong, as a change in eligibility criteria meant that only players eligible to play in the Asian Games could compete. In protest at Pratt's exclusion, Connie Wong and Keenu Gill withdrew from the 2012 Asian Cricket Council Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup, and were subsequently banned for a year.[13]

Singapore career

Pratt returned to international cricket in 2016 by playing for Singapore against Malaysia in the Saudari Cup. She hit 76* and 60* in consecutive games.[14] The 2018 series had Twenty20 International status for the first time. She played in all five matches in the series. Her final appearance came at the age of 45 years, 144 days, at the time only behind Caroline de Fouw of Netherlands as the oldest women T20I player (since surpassed by some others).[4]

References

  1. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. ^ Administrator. "ACC WOMEN'S TWENTY20, SEMI-FINAL 2: HONG KONG v NEPAL". www.asiancricket.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Hong Kong girls take on Pakistan for a cricket World Cup place". DailyTimes. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Records | Women's Twenty20 Internationals | Individual records (captains, players, umpires) | Oldest players | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Hong Kong Women Representative Cap Numbers". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifiers: Sana Javed, Khurshid star as Pakistan crush HK". Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Hong Kong have big ambition". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Salma again leads from front". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Hong Kong Women crash to another embarrassing defeat". Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Hong Kong are the ACC Women's Twenty20 Champions after beating Thailand by 4 runs in thrilling final". Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Hong Kong Women's Cricket Team win all 5 of their group matches enroute to ACC semi-final". Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Two Hong Kong women cricketers banned for pulling out of Asia Cup squad". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Neisha Pratt". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.