From being England’s star in their successful 2022 T20 World Cup campaign to being the villain in the tournament two years later, Sam Curran’s career has come full circle.In the recently concluded World Cup in the US and Caribbean, Curran picked up just three wickets at 38.33 and faced just 11 balls across five matches.
Moreover, he has not featured in a One-Day International (ODI) for England since 2023, and his last Test came in 2021. Safe to say, that has left Curran frustrated. But he saw a glimmer of hope recently when Ben Stokes injured his hamstring at the Hundred and was ruled out of the series against Sri Lanka. He hoped he would get a call to fill in that all-rounder’s position, but it never came. Stokes is also not part of the XI for the ongoing Multan Test against Pakistan, but Curran is not part of the squad.
“I’ll be totally honest when Stokesy got injured, I did probably think that was my way back into the Test team,” Curran told talkSPORT
“A couple of weeks back, I had a meeting with Keysy [Rob Key, director of cricket] just to get a bit of understanding of where the group is, and how I see myself getting back into the Test side.
“Being a young player who experienced Test cricket so young, I feel like I had an advantage to know what it’s about, to know what winning a Test match is, and the grind and the grit and attitude that you need … so I was a little bit gutted. Selection is selection, but I thought that was my way back into the side at the minute.
“They’ve got their own structure at the minute, and they’re picking the guys that fit that environment, and there’s a big thing going on at the minute about extra pace and stuff like that. And I guess for 12 months’ time, and the Ashes, these are the guys they want, so you can’t question it until the plan comes to an end.”
Curran feels that there is role clarity at Surrey and the Oval Invincibles, which is something that seems to be missing in England.
“At the Oval Invincibles and Surrey, and a couple of the franchise teams, I feel like my role has been pretty nailed on, whereas with England, there’s been myself, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone … Woakesy [Chris Woakes] as well, all these allrounders at 6, 7, 8 and 9, and it can be confusing,” the 26-year-old said.
“Sometimes you take the new ball, and then [the selectors] go to four seamers, and you’re the one to lose out, so it’s a frustrating role. My strongest role in most teams is batting in the top six and bowling, but I love playing all sorts of roles.
“My goal is always to try and get back into the England sides, and there’s only one way of doing that … scoring runs, taking wickets and winning games for England or the franchises. There’s no doubt I’d love to be on an Ashes tour or in a Champions Trophy victory. I’m someone who likes to prove a point, so fingers crossed the next couple of months go well.”
Curran will be in action next during England’s white-ball tour of West Indies, which consists of three ODIs and five T20 Internationals (T20I), starting October 31.
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