Ashes 2017-18: Boxing Day Test set to become only the 2nd Test with five sons of International cricketers

England’s problems continue in their Ashes series down due to unavailability of their players after conceding the trophy following defeats in the first three Tests. For the fourth consecutive time, the Ashes series turned out to be a one-sided competition in favour of the home side and England are on the brink of getting whitewashed by the Aussies for the 3rd time in 11 years. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, England lost the services of their pacer Craig Overton who was impressive on his Test debut.

This confirmed Test debut for the 22-year-old all-rounder from Surrey, Tom Curran, who featured in three T20Is and one ODI game so far. Curran is the son of late Zimbabwe International cricketer Kevin Malcolm Curran who appeared in 11 ODI games including 1983 and 1987 World Cup. Kevin also coached Zimbabwe national team between 2005 and 2007. Interestingly, Tom was born and raised in South Africa before his family moved to England.

Tom Curran has two brothers namely Sam and Ben Curran, who were raised up in Northampton completing a full circle of family. Sam Curran featured in England’s 2016 U19 CWC side and is considered as national team’s future prospect. When Tom Curran takes the field against Australia on Tuesday, he might not be the only player to be a son of a former International player. As many as five players including Curran are expected to feature in Boxing Day Test whose fathers were International cricketers.

Only the second instance in Test history:

Along with Tom Curran, Jonny Bairstow (son of David Bairstow), Stuart Broad (son of Chris Broad) and Australia’s Marsh brothers (Shaun and Mitch are sons of Geoff Marsh) are set to play in the Melbourne Test who are the sons of former International cricketers. If things go as expected this Test match will be only the 2nd in the history to witness five players with fathers who featured in International cricket.

The first Test to feature five sons of International cricketers was the Manchester Test match between England and New Zealand in 1999. That game included New Zealand’s Chris Cairns (son of Lance Cairns), Chris Harris (son of Zin Harris), England’s Mark Butcher (son of Alan Butcher), Alec Stewart (son of Micky Stewart) and Dean Headley (son of Ron Headley). The game which was dominated by New Zealand ended in a draw due to regular interruptions due to weather.