Cricket: Schoolboy prodigies keen to stay ahead of game

Anderson still looks more suited as a test No6 than No5. He's filling a gap in the team balance with Brendon McCullum (pictured) opening. Photo / AFP

A fascinating chapter of the cricketing summer involves how Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson cope with the symptoms of "second season syndrome" which can affect top sportspeople after impressive starts to their careers.

Both are unquestionable talents who, presumably, will be around for the next decade fighting out the all-rounder spot in New Zealand sides. Yet, they have recently struggled for form.

In Neesham's case it's since his twin half-century contributions on the West Indies tour which helped win the third test at Bridgetown, followed by a tidy Caribbean Premier League with Guyana.

For Anderson, it's since the Indian Premier League where facing the hype would have been as gruelling as braving any pace attack.

Neesham's had the added difficulty of dealing with the experiment as an ODI opener as New Zealand look to incorporate him in a starting XI. He then managed only 39 runs across four test innings against Pakistan. His bowling has seen him take two wickets across his last two tests, two ODIs and two T20 internationals.

Anderson still looks more suited as a test No6 than No5. He's filling a gap in the team balance with Brendon McCullum opening. The current match, on a flat Sharjah wicket, presents a chance to justify his spot after a series top score of 48. His left-armers have provided a variation at McCullum's disposal but haven't troubled the Pakistani batsmen to a great degree. He has demonstrated venom on occasion, like when he fractured opener Ahmed Shehzad's skull in Abu Dhabi.

The pair were schoolboy prodigies. Anderson first appeared for Canterbury in 2007 aged 16 years and 89 days, the youngest first-class debutant in 59 seasons. Neesham won the schoolboy speedball radar competition in 2008 with a full delivery of 132km/h.

The pair's stocks rocketed on the international scene last summer.

Anderson played the innings of a lifetime in Queenstown, inflicting grievous bowling harm on the West Indies attack, making a century off a world record 36 balls.

His New Year's Day performance lit up media worldwide in a traditionally quiet period. Significantly, he became one of the three most popular searches on the cricketing website Cricinfo, whose biggest market is Indian fans.

The kudos earned him an $866,000 IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians. The payment structure meant he didn't earn all that, but it doubtless provided a handy nest egg.

Neesham was handed a test cap after the Doug Bracewell/Jesse Ryder shenanigans before the first test against India in Auckland. He set the highest score by a No8 batsman on debut with 137. That effort, after waiting to bat almost nine hours and 123 overs, was backed up with a century in the West Indies to make him one of eight cricketers, and the first New Zealander, to score centuries in his first two tests. Neesham had already impressed Indian Premier League eyes with his Champions League performances for Otago. He secured a $195,000 IPL contract with the Delhi Daredevils.

Now the pressures of second-season-syndrome apply. The term is used in reference to their break-through season; both had made sporadic New Zealand limited overs appearance before 2013-14.

With the benefits of exposure on the international stage come the difficulties of having your technique unpicked frame-by-frame by opposition video analysts. Media and fans follow suit, asking questions about whether such blazing trails will run out of fuel. The pressure will now intensify with a World Cup about to start on New Zealand's doorstep.

Andrew Alderson travelled to the UAE courtesy of Emirates.