10 Interesting facts about Sam Curran the latest sensation in the England team

Sam Curran completely changed the course of the first Test match between England and India on the second morning. The left-arm pacer dismissed India’s top three batsmen in space of eight deliveries after the opening pair added 50 runs. Curran has been in some good form against Indians this season as he dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara during county championship twice in 15 deliveries. The youngster’s journey from a promising youngster to becoming a big thing in England national team has been a rollercoaster ride.

Here are ten interesting facts about:

1. Birth and playing style:

Samuel Matthew Curran (Sam Curran) was born on 3rd June 1998 to a Zimbabwe couple Kevin Curran and Sarah Curran in Northampton, a county in England. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-hand bowler.

2. Cricketing family:

Sam is the son of former International cricketer and coach of Zimbabwe, Kevin Malcolm Curran, who is the son of Kevin Patrick Curran, a first-class cricketer in Zimbabwe. Sam is the youngest of the three Curran brothers. The oldest among the three, Tom is also a current England International while 2nd brother Ben Curran is Northamptonshire’s 2nd XI player.

3. Career with Zimbabwe:

He represented the Zimbabwe Under-13s team during the CSA Under-13 Week 2011/12 tournament when their family was residing in Zimbabwe. He featured in five matches scoring 67 runs and took three wickets during the tournament that was played in South Africa.

4. Career in England:

Surrey’s talent hunt found Tom Curran who was playing in South Africa in 2012. A month after their father’s death, the former England cricketer Alec Stewart, an admirer of the Curran family invited them to Surrey. Both Tom and Sam Curran made into the Surrey age group cricket with their all-rounder skills.

5. Under-19 World Cup:

Sam made it to the 2016 Under-19 World Cup hosted by Bangladesh for England where he impressed one and all with his all-round performances. He took seven wickets at 20.57 in six matches and also scored 201 in five innings at an average of 50.33 with a best of 83.

6. Surrey Record:

Sam didn’t take a lot of time to seal his spot in Surrey’s first XI as he bagged 98 wickets in 34 county matches and scored 1272 runs with 11 fifties. He also took 47 wickets and scored 467 runs in 35 List A matches and 33 wickets in 38 T20 matches along with 321 runs for Surrey.

7. A record with brother:

Tom and Sam took 7/35 and 3/46 respectively in the first innings of the County Championship match against Northamptonshire in 2015 at The Oval. Thus, they became the first pair of brothers in nearly 65 years to take all ten wickets in a County inning.

8. Test debut:

Sam Curran made his Test debut at Leeds against Pakistan a couple of days before his 20th birthday. He resumed his maiden innings on his 20th birthday and got out exactly on 20. Thus, he became only the 2nd player to score as many runs as his age on their birthday in Test cricket. England’s Geoff Pullar scored 26 on his 26th birthday in 1961 Manchester Test against Australia on August 1st.

9. ODI debut:

He made his ODI debut in the final match of the recent ODI series against Australia where he took 2/44 and scored 15 runs. He was 20 years and 21 days old on the day of his debut making him the 2nd youngest ODI cricketer of England after Ben Hollioake (19y 195d in 2017).

10. Breakthrough performance against India:

The 20-year-old ran through India’s top three in the Edgbaston Test in his first spell and added the wicket of Hardik Pandya to become the youngest England player to take a 4-wicket haul in Test cricket.

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