Before the Black Caps left for their limited overs tour of India, coach and chief selector Mike Hesson said Neesham had the opportunity to push his way back into the side for the home summer.
"Jimmy needs go back and really dominate domestic cricket with both bat and ball. We know Jimmy is a talented player, but we've spoken with him around improving the consistency in all areas of his game."
The 27-year-old is understood to still be keen to progress his international prospects rather than pursue a freelance T20 career. He played for Kent in England's domestic T20 league during the New Zealand winter.
The all-rounder was also part of New Zealand's Champions Trophy squad, but could not dominate with bat or ball in the matches against Australia, England or Bangladesh.
Neesham began that tour as a senior player in the Ireland-Bangladesh tri-series with so many players away on Indian Premier League duty. His best contribution was 52 off 48 balls in the victory over Bangladesh in Dublin.
Before leaving, Neesham said while his batting had been "going nicely" over the previous couple of limited overs series, his focus had been getting his bowling "up to scratch".
He was determined to pursue a career as an all-rounder, despite a potential bottleneck with Colin de Grandhomme, Corey Anderson and Mitchell Santner.
"It's probably the opposite," Neesham said. "There is no thought of becoming just a batsman."
Neesham has spent past seasons in the IPL, but no contract this year meant he worked on his strength and conditioning with Black Caps trainer Chris Donaldson.
He has played two tests, 18 ODIs, and two T20Is in the last year.
The tests against South Africa resulted in a top score of 15 from three innings, and two wickets at 61.50 from 27.3 overs.
