Jimmy Neesham, the New Zealand all-rounder, has recounted a hilarious incident when Australia paceman Mitchell Starc’s attempt to sledge him fell flat.

Neesham, speaking in the Marc Peard Sports Daily Debrief Facebook show, was asked to reveal his favourite sledge. “The funniest ones are when somebody gets one wrong, or they’re off the cuff,” said Neesham.

He then looked back at the Brisbane Test in 2015, when Neesham walked in to bat with New Zealand struggling four wickets down, needing 339 runs to win on the fifth day.

“I came out to bat and Mitchell Starc, who was bowling thunderbolts, came up to me and said, ‘bit early for a night watchman, isn’t it’?” Neesham said, with Starc suggesting the all-rounder was batting too high.

Neesham simply countered with a logical fact. “I turned to him and said, ‘mate, it’s day five. There’s no night. This is it’.” Starc was stumped.