New Zealand batsman Corey Anderson has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 29 and signed a 3-year contract with the Major League Cricket T20 in the United States of America. Anderson says goodbye to the Blackcaps after representing them in 93 matches across three formats.
Confirming the decision of his switch to MLC from New Zealand, Anderson told Cricbuzz: “It’s been a huge honor and extremely proud to represent New Zealand. I would have loved to have achieved and played more but just is what it is sometimes, and different opportunities arise and send you in a direction you never thought would be a possibility. Very appreciative for everything that NZC has done for me.”
Anderson’s fiance, Mary Margaret, is an American and reportedly played a huge role in the Kiwi batsman deciding to call time on his international career to move to the USA.
“It hasn’t been an easy decision. I asked myself several questions. What do I want to do now or what do I want to achieve in the next two years, five years, 10 years? As you get older you think about life a little bit more broadly as well. And obviously, my fiance, Mary Margaret, who’s born and raised in America, she’s had a massive part to play in that because she’s sacrificed so much for me, by moving to New Zealand, getting immersed in a different culture there and, and supporting me through a lot of tough times with injuries and time out of cricket. So, when the opportunity arose, we thought that living in America is the best thing, not only for my cricket, but it’s, it’s the best thing for both of us in general as well,” Anderson added.
Anderson is a prolific batsman who presently holds the record for hitting the fastest ODI century in Men’s cricket. He had done so in 36 balls against West Indies back in 2013. The knock saw him rose to instant fame and also earn a lucrative contract from the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians.
Of late, however, international appearances have been hard to come by for Anderson. He last represented the Kiwis in November 2018 against Pakistan in a T20I encounter. His last ODI appearance came in June 2017 against Bangladesh.
Anderson is now the most high-profile signing in MLC. Some of the other prominent players include the likes of Pakistan’s Sami Aslam and South Africa’s Dane Piedt.
