Sam Curran grateful for ‘reset’ after regaining his England place

Sam Curran is realizing his defeat England The place allowed him to “reset” and go from being an outcast to gradually gaining the trust of head coach Brendon McCullum.

Until last month, Curran had apparently never been selected in any format by McCullum, who believed the all-rounder did not get a chance after his unexpected leading role in England’s 2022 T20 World Cup win.

Curran, who was dropped from both white-ball teams in January, was told that his way back was as a batsman in the top six, complementing the left-arm seam bowling with which he had initially made a mark for England.

Curran faced challenges at the Vitality Blast and The Hundred this summer and qualified for a T20 return, retaining his place for the tour. new zealandWhere he saved England’s innings before the rain by scoring unbeaten 49 runs in the opening match of the series on Saturday. christchurch Caused abandonment.

“I’m sitting here now and I’m probably grateful for this kind of reset,” Curran said. “I have experienced so many highs in my career and this was partly about slowing down and getting back to enjoying it.

“I met all the people I needed to and it was quite simple to be honest. It was quite refreshing (to be told) ‘score runs, take wickets and you’ll claw your way back.’ I think it’s good.

“Part of it was being very clear about what I needed to do. And in the past, there were times when you didn’t know where you were.

“I came back, which was a great feeling, and hopefully I can go on and try to win (games) with both bat and ball. That’s my goal.”

In two years after winning Player of the Tournament in the 2022 T20 World Cup AustraliaCurran’s average with the ball in 23 matches was 43.84, while the economy rate was close to 9.79.

On two occasions, he was dismissed for 30 in the same over by West Indies’ Rovman Powell and Australia’s Travis Head, but as he has improved his batting, Curran has also worked on the ultra-slow ball.

Curran is in the mid-80mph range at his fastest, but his ‘moon ball’ drops below 50mph making him an option to bowl at all stages of the innings, not just in the powerplay and death overs.

“It is about being creative and trying to do different things so that the opposition (batsmen) are careful,” Curran said. “I don’t really do anything different with the way I bowl.

“The game is moving so fast, you see the scores in all the leagues and all the T20s, you have to adapt, that’s part of my time out of the team. I was trying to reflect and where I can improve.”

Curran could turn that around in the second T20 at Hagley Oval on Monday, where he took England from 81 for five at the weekend to 153 for six, albeit after being dismissed twice and given out LBW, before rain made the final decision.

This three-match series is their last match before the T20 World Cup. India And the Sri Lankan and Curran are keen to show he belongs in the England first XI early next year.

“I have the experience of winning the World Cup and winning matches with England,” he said. “It makes you even more hungry to try and do that thing again.”