Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham both burst onto the international scene as powerful batsmen who could also biff down deliveries in excess of 130km/h. Since then, there has always been an elephant lurking in the room as the two all-rounders have effectively been competing for the starting spot but up to this point injuries have kept that elephant away.

While the two have been talked about as possibly providing some funk to this BLACKCAPS team and I am keen to see them together in a BLACKCAPS team at some point, the truth is that they have each enjoyed their own time in the spotlight thanks to injury. In England, Anderson enjoyed the opportunities as Neesham sat out and now it is Neesham who gets the opportunity in the whites.

Anderson has had to pull out of the Australian tour as he hasn't been able to recover from a back injury which saw him come home from England early. There are two benefactors from Anderson's lingering back injury with Neesham now set to be the numero uno all-rounder and Mitchell Santner called up to join the squad and possibly make his Test debut. 

This is obviously a bummer for Anderson who has showed as many promising signs as he has shown the standard young cricketer's fragility. Anderson only bowled eight overs in one Test in England, perhaps the early signs of this back injury and this limited the options available to Brendon McCullum as instead of playing with four seamers and two spinners (Craig and Williamson), McCullum had to rely heavily on Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Matt Henry. Anderson's good enough with the willow to offer some value there, but Anderson offers something unique with the ball and without that there is a hole in the BLACKCAPS.

There's no need to panic about Anderson's injury, although it is a reminder that promising cricketers (especially bowlers) face a rollercoaster ride in terms of fitness.

The silver lining obviously now graces Neesham. To be honest, Neesham hasn't faced a thorough examination in a hostile environment just yet in his career - not many of these BLACKCAPS have - which the Australians will provide. Neesham has to now show that he can offer consistency and wicket-taking ability when called upon by his skipper against a strong Australian batting line-up. Can Neesham fill that fourth-seamer hole and provide McCullum with the options that he will need to beat Australia? I am yet to be convinced, which is why this is so fun as Australia should provide a bit of extra pace and bounce that I reckon Neesham will enjoy.

Neesham is yet to face the world's best bowling attacks and will be put under the microscope by Australia's bowlers. So far Neesham has played Tests against India, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka which has me intrigued as to how Neesham deals with Mitchell Johnson firing 150km/h thunderbolts at his neck and Mitchell Starc angling the ball back at his stumps. These are the sort of situations that we need to see Neesham in and Anderson's injury provides Neesham the opportunity to face this challenge and show us what he can do.

There's also now an opportunity for Mitchell Santner to try and grab a Test debut in Australia. I like this selection as Santner's has shown in limited overs cricket the ability to maintain a threat when perhaps conditions don't favour spin. Santner is good enough as a batsman, like Neesham and Anderson that he can be picked to be a second spinner and provide a few runs in the middle order. I don't think Santner will get much of an opportunity in Australia, but this does raise the prospect of Santner featuring in the BLACKCAPS when they tour spin-friendly countries. Mark Craig is the number one spinner at the moment and with Santner and Kane Williamson both able to provide quality spin and hold down spots as batsmen, that's an exciting amount of versatility.

This is all about Australia however and Anderson won't be heading to Australia. The ball is now in Neesham's court as the battle between these two all-rounders continues. If Anderson was healthy and both he and Neesham were available for selection, I'd lean towards Anderson getting the nod and Neesham carrying the drinks. The time has come for Neesham to fire a few shots and demand selection ahead of Anderson.