New Zealand’s all-rounder Corey Andreson announced retirement from international cricket after signing a three-year deal with the upcoming Major Cricket T20 League (MLC) in the United States of America. The former New Zealand cricketer has taken early retirement from the international arena at the age of 29.
The announcement came about Corey’s retirement came on December 5, when the all-rounder quit the New Zealand Cricket to sign a long-term deal with MLC and American Cricket Enterprises. Under this contract, Corey would need to play matches in major and minor league cricket and undertake some coaching activities at MLC for 3 years starting from 2022.
Over the years, Corey Anderson gained the reputation of a T20 specialist. He played close to 200 T20 games all around the world in some of the greatest franchise leagues like IPL, PSL, CPL, and T20 Blast.
Anderson made his debut for New Zealand in 2012. He featured in 13 Tests, 49 ODIs, and 31 T20Is for his nation, scoring 2277 international runs with 10 half-centuries and two tons. Corey also bagged 90 wickets for New Zealand. The claim to fame moment for Corey came on the New Year’s Day 2014 when he scored the then fastest ODI century. He scored his ton in just 36 deliveries and then went on to score his highest score at international cricket of unbeaten 131 against West Indies.
After this glory moment, Mumbai Indians bought Corey for a whopping INR 5.5 Crores in 2014, where he single-handed took his franchise to the playoffs, courtesy of a blistering innings of 95 runs off 44 balls. He also featured in New Zealand’s squad for the 2015 World Cup.
Anderson commented on the development and said, “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, or 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.”
Earlier this month, Indian Premier League’s franchise KKR’s owners; Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and Jay Mehta bought a franchise in the USA’s Major League Cricket, Los Angeles Knight Riders. Apart from Corey Anderson, Pakistan’s Sami Aslam and South African Dane Piedt are some of the high-profile players who have signed up contracts with MLC.Â