Anderson’s looking to return with bat and ball
His latest brush with serious injury behind him, Corey Anderson has his sights set on returning to international cricket.
The hard-hitting allrounder had to cut short a T20 stint with Somerset in England’s domestic competition when he picked up a stress fracture in July, a recurrence of the injury he suffered on New Zealand’s tour of England in 2015, with a slight variation thrown in for good measure.
He had surgery four weeks ago, has screws in his back for support but was back in the gym last week and is feeling upbeat about the future.
“I’m in a good space,” the 26-yearold said yesterday. “I’m glad I had the surgery, I’m active again and on the road to recovery. I’m excited for what’s ahead.”
Anderson has played 13 tests, 49 ODIs and 29 T20s, since his international debut in December 2012, a tiny amount given his talent, and amply illustrates his injury issues.
Since his debut in each form, New Zealand have played 37 tests, 90 ODIs and 38 T20s. That’s a lot of cricket missed and New Zealand have been the poorer for that.
The idea of giving up his bowling to protect the back is anathema to the beefy left-armer.
“If it did ever go pear-shaped I would cross that bridge when I came to it. In my mind, I’m fully on track to come back as an allrounder.
“The whole point of having the surgery was to get myself back to full capacity. My role in the New Zealand side, and the best way to get selected, is to be that allrounder.”
And Anderson isn’t about to cut back his involvement in one form of the game either. He insists test cricket is cricket’s pinnacle and that’s where his sights are set. “The dream if you’re a Black Cap is to play test cricket. The feelings you have and rewards you get from it are hard to compare with any other format.”
There’s no time frame to return to the game and he won’t be cutting corners. Anderson is doing low impact exercise and knows it’ll be “baby steps” first but his determination to return is as strong as ever.