The South African-born Tom Curran is determined to become a relatively permanent fixture in England’s first-choice ODI XI.
Curran has been named in the squad for this month’s five-ODI series and, in the absence of senior seamers Liam Plunkett for the first half and David Willey the entirety, will be afforded the chance to push for a berth in the squad for next year’s World Cup.
He played for KwaZulu-Natal Inland U19 as recently as 2012 and has since forged a burgeoning international career. The 23-year-old, indeed, has gathered two Tests, eight ODIs and six T20Is since June 2017’s England debut.
‘I came back from the Indian Premier League and picked up a couple of niggles when we were playing Australia, so that was very frustrating but at the same time you get time to reflect and set goals,’ Curran told Sky Sports.
‘It’s hard to think too far ahead, but it’s also hard not to think of the World Cup so it will just be about small steps: get in the side for the first ODI, push on in this series, take that through to West Indies and then next summer.’
Curran’s younger brother, Sam, is an integral part of England’s Test squad. Older than Sam but younger than Tom, third sibling Ben will play for Cape Town Cricket Club late this year.
‘It all happened so quickly. One day you are playing in the garden together and the next thing you are watching Sam do it in a Test match. I’m so proud and hopefully it’s just the start,’ he concluded.
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