Tom Curran reflected on a “rollercoaster” year after his surprise call-up to England’s Ashes squad – with the rollercoaster now heading for Adelaide.
The 22-year-old Surrey fast bowler started 2017 starring for the Lions in Sri Lanka before a long flight to join England in the Caribbean. That was followed by one-day and T20 debuts in the summer; brief disappointment when a proposed stint in Cape Town was scuppered by the collapse of the Global T20 League; and now there must be doubts over the deal he signed with Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash.
But these circumstances are much happier, as the eldest of the three sons of the former Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and Zimbabwe all-rounder Kevin is now closer than ever to making a dream Test debut.
“I’m delighted, I’m excited,” Curran told Surrey’s digital channels at the Kia Oval – after celebrating his Ashes call-up with a light session in the gym.
“It’s all pretty new still – I only found out a couple of hours ago. The rollercoaster – here we go again. But a year I’ll never forget.
“I was sleeping this morning to be honest – I was in the later gym group, so I decided to have a little lie-in. Then I saw I’d had a couple of missed calls.
Get To Know
Get To Know...
TomCurran
- AKA: TC
- Follow on:
- Age: 30
- Domestic Team: Surrey
- Bowling Style: Right-arm
- Fun Fact:
- Tom and brother Sam took all 10 Northamptonshire wickets in an innings in 2015
- Cricketing Legend:
- Brett Lee
“I fly tomorrow. I’ve got to finish packing, and organise all my stuff. I’m very excited to get to Australia.”
Curran has spent the last two winters on the Lions programme, impressing in white-ball cricket against Pakistan A in Dubai either side of Christmas 2015, and then forming a formidable new-ball combination with Toby Roland-Jones in two four-day matches against Sri Lanka A earlier this year.
Now injuries to Roland-Jones and Steven Finn, plus the ongoing uncertainty concerning Ben Stokes, have opened up the chance to join his former Lions team-mates Jake Ball and Craig Overton in Australia – as well as his Surrey team-mates Mark Stoneman and Ben Foakes.