Neisha Anne Pratt (born 21 March 1973) is a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

player, born in New Zealand, who has played international cricket for both

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and also NZ domestic cricket for Northern Districts Spirit. She represented Hong Kong between 2006 and 2011, and also captained the side. She made her

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

debut for Singapore against Malaysia in August 2018, at the age of 45.

Hong Kong career

Pratt captained

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. she took 1/44 from 10 overs and scored 16 runs as Hong Kong lost to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. She captained the team in a 2007

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is a cricket organization which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of Cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional administrati ...

30-over tournament in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. In the opening match against

, she scored 71 runs in 77 balls, and took 4/4 in 6 overs. In a 2008 series in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, Pratt top-scored in the final two matches, making 35 in the second match of the series, and 61 in the final match. Pratt also captained the side that won the 2009 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship. She scored a partnership of 76 with Keenu Gill in a group-stage match against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, which was the highest partnership in the group stages, and was also the player of the match in the group stage matches against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and Malaysia. In the final against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, Pratt scored 27 runs. 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 The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

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.

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. 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).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Neisha 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Te Awamutu New Zealand women cricketers Northern Districts women cricketers Hong Kong women cricketers Singaporean women cricketers Singapore women Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers from Waikato New Zealand emigrants to Hong Kong New Zealand expatriates in Hong Kong New Zealand emigrants to Singapore New Zealand expatriates in Singapore