BLACKCAPS all-rounder Corey Anderson believes that this Saturday’s match against Australia will be the biggest of his career.
The 24-year-old from the Northern Knights has never played against Australia and he cannot think of a better occasion to make an impression than during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Eden Park.
Anderson, who admitted to “nervous excitement” early in the week, said the rivalry with Australia is still “definitely there” despite the sides not playing on this side of the Tasman for the past five years.
“It is Australia and you always want to beat Australia,” he said. “It just feels like another World Cup game that we have to win but I am sure that when we turn up to the ground and see the crowd roll in, and there will be a little bit more hype a couple of days out. It will be pretty cool.”
The Australian side arrived in New Zealand on the weekend and opener Aaron Finch was quick to label the BLACKCAPS as the favourite for this clash after their eight wicket win over England. Finch believes there is more pressure on the Kiwis.
“It might be mind games, I am not too sure,” Anderson said of his comments. “It’s a World Cup, every game is a pressure situation. We look at it as a positive coming out on Saturday to a packed ground at Eden Park that will hopefully get stuck into the Aussies as well.”
Anderson has made an impressive start to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. He began well in Christchurch with his knock of 75 off 46 balls earning him the Man of the Match Award in the opener against Sri Lanka.
He is striking at 139.13 to be third on the list of strike rates (Brendon McCullum is top with 182.55) from three games. Anderson has also picked up five wickets at 8.8 to be ninth on wickets taken (Tim Southee is the leading wicket taker on 11) and underline his world-class status as an all-rounder.
He said Australia is a different proposition all together and the BLACKCAPS are focused on their blueprint for success and their way of playing cricket.
“Their sledging tactics are well known in the media and it is something that I guess we haven’t involved ourselves in. When we are on the field we just go about what we do. We will be expecting a bit of heat from them but that is just part of their game plan and we’ll deal with when it comes.”
Anderson, who has played 29 ODIs for New Zealand with an average of 36.80, at a strike rate of 130.35, feels the home side has an advantage at Eden Park with its odd dimensions.
“It is not the nicest feeling when you are walking back to the top of your run up and you can almost touch the boundary,” he laughed. “It’s not the best feeling as a bowler but as a batter its nice.
“It is a different ground. We have played there a number of times and it has been a pretty good hunting ground for us. I guess it is [an edge playing there a lot]. It is bowling tactics with regards to the boundary; a ground where you have to change it up a lot. Top edges don’t go for four, they go for six.”
For Anderson, Saturday cannot come along quickly enough.
The team knows of the significance of playing Australia at Eden Park – that same game in the 1992 World Cup is now etched into Kiwi folklore as a famous fixture that inspired the BLACKCAPS to a dream run on home soil.
“It is always nice to have New Zealand beat Australia,” Anderson said of that match. “I guess we are trying to write our own script as well and captivate the nation in our own way. It is just exciting to be able to play our neighbours in our own backyard.”
Anderson said some of his fondest memories of that Trans-Tasman rivalry are Craig McMillan’s century in the Chappell Hadlee Series in 2007 or Shane Bond “tearing through them” at the World Cup.
He said it was great to have those two guys as part of their team as batting and bowling coach respectively to help prepare for the pressure moments. But the boys don’t need any extra motivation from the coaches.
“It is a World Cup game. It is the biggest game of my career and the same for a lot of other guys in our team as well. It is the pinnacle of cricket to play Australia in your own backyard and in a World Cup so we are all excited.”
BLACKCAPS v Australia at Eden Park in Auckland, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 on Saturday from 2pm
