Since making his First-Class cricket debut as a 16-year-old , there have been moments when Corey Anderson showcased his prodigal talents. Headline snatching moments like a 36-ball ODI century, more low key moments such as 3w and 58 runs @ 101.75sr in the 2015 Cricket World Cup semi-final win over South Africa and plenty more of various hype levels in Aotearoa, as well as overseas. To a large extent, Anderson has already taken a long dip into his sporting potential and this definitely isn't a case of what could have been given all that Anderson has already done.

This is more of a curious geeze at more recent times, in which Anderson's appearances have been sporadic. Injuries have offered a constant battle for Anderson and one is always wise to highlight the prickly nature of what someone like Anderson must have been through behind the scenes. Often times, planet Earth seems to spin too fast and while Anderson appears to have been stuck in the mud for the above reasons and any other reasons, the Blackcaps and Auckland Aces have kept things in motion.

We all know how talented Anderson is, yet since his last Test in 2016, last ODI in 2017 and last T20 in 2018, the Blackcaps have been fine. Maybe that's a fun exercise for you and ol' mate in your house to discuss as it would be easy to get into the weeds exploring whether the Blackcaps have got better, worse or the same without Anderson - not because of Anderson, Anderson's more of a checkpoint marker. A checkpoint marker that could also differentiate the B-Mac era and Kane Williamson era.

I had visions of an Anderson/Jimmy Neesham middle-order duo a few years back, two lads who quite easily sit in the most naturally gifted cricketers I've seen bucket. That fantasy resulted in an Anderson/Neesham combo in the 2017 Champions Trophy in which the Blackcaps finished 4th (last) in Pool A, didn't win a game and the best that Anderson and Neesham offered was Neesham's 47 runs @ 15.66avg and Anderson's 3w @ 24.6avg.

That glorious moment of Blackcaps shambles finished with a loss to Bangladesh, the last ODI that Anderson played. Since then, Anderson has played two Ford Trophy games and three Plunket Shield games and things got a bit weird this summer as Anderson was bumped out of the Auckland Aces Super Smash side while the Aces were running hot in the title chase.

Anderson played nine Super Smash games this summer, scoring 129 runs @ 21.50avg and a healthy strike-rate of 120.56. Anderson had three consecutive knocks of 20-odd before dropping out of the Aces 1st 11 and again, there may have been behind the scenes circumstances that none of us know. This is what happened with the Aces line up though: Anderson and Rob O'Donnell are both in the team for game 21, then Glenn Phillips steps in to bump O'Donnell out for game 26 and then the next three games saw O'Donnell take Anderson's place.

When the Aces didn't have most of their available/suitable for Super Smash Blackcaps, Anderson was playing and then with Phillips coming back, Anderson eventually lost his spot to O'Donnell. Considering that Anderson didn't play any Ford Trophy or Plunket Shield this summer, his only action was nine games of Super Smash before being left out for Auckland's Super Smash finals run.

This leaves us at an interesting juncture as Anderson is easy to view through the T20 lens. Through his own actions, it's rather clear where Anderson's priority sits and that may be because of his body not allowing him to jack up long format games or merely because of what he wants to do when factoring in financial returns. I was then intrigued to see that Anderson had been picked up by Somerset to play in England's T20 Blast this year, intrigued although not surprised.

Anderson was fabulous for Somerset in 2018, hitting 514 runs @ 42.83avg/169.07sr and that had Anderson finishing 5th in total runs. The thing about County Championship signings and thus T20 Blast stuff is that this is often due to lovely relationships rather than straight up performance; if you fit into the group, do your job and make positive impressions then you at the very least have a foot in the door. I highlight that because Anderson's barely played consistent cricket let alone performed at a high level since that 2018 stint.

Ponder these Indian Premier League numbers as well...

2014: 12 games, 29.44avg/146.40sr.

2015: 4 games, 38avg/117.52sr.

2017: 11 games, 20.28avg/115.44sr.

2018: 3 games, 5.66avg/77.27sr.

Obviously Anderson's an all-rounder, yet his bowling numbers are all fairly mediocre as he never averaged under 30 in those four seasons and has an overall IPL average of 47.09/10.46rpo. The most notable insight from those IPL batting numbers is the decline in Anderson's strike-rate and Anderson's IPl career generally follows the trend of his cricketing journey in the last five-six years.

There were other moving parts, although Auckland opted for O'Donnell ahead of Anderson in their Super Smash outfit and that's completely logical considering that O'Donnell currently has the second highest T20 batting average ever. I brought this up when writing about Wellington's Devon Conway as he is 11th and there are all sorts of little notes/nuance that come with such a list, regardless O'Donnell's 54.09avg/121.67sr is pretty good.

O'Donnell only played four Super Smash games this summer, scoring 37 runs and he did so with a strike-rate of 160.86. With a bunch of not-outs boosting his average, O'Donnell has already proven himself a fine finisher in T20 cricket and is part of a younger Auckland wave that may be washing over Anderson. Whether or not much cricket is played throughout 2020, Anderson got the Somerset gig despite being washed over by that young Auckland wave.

As such, it goes without saying that the Blackcaps are moving and grooving sans Anderson. Neesham's found some level of comfort with the white ball, Daryl Mitchell has done well in various formats, Kyle Jamieson can bat and bowl, while the likes of Devon Conway, Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Bruce and bunch more can essentially do what Anderson does with the bat.

Such hypothesis don't really matter though because the days of Anderson playing a few domestic games and then sliding back into the Blackcaps have long passed. If Anderson can't play consistently for Auckland, then the current talent levels in Aotearoa suggest that Anderson ain't going to be in the Blackcaps mix any time soon. Should Anderson do his best phoenix impression, I'll definitely take notice and share that resurgence, yet there are no signs such transformation will take place.

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Peace and love 27.