Tom Curran to replace Craig Overton for the Boxing Day Ashes Test

The right-arm fast bowler from Surrey, Tom Curran, will make his debut in Test match cricket tomorrow as he has been included in the England playing XI for the Boxing Day Test. Curran will take the place of Craig Overton who sustained a minor fracture in his ribs while bowling at WACA and has now been ruled of the ongoing Ashes series.

Curran was not included in the original squad that the England selectors had announced for the Ashes, but he was picked after Steven Finn injured his knee and now he is all set to feature in the whites for the team. His bowling style is not too different from that of Overton. He is not as tall as the latter, so generates a fraction less bounce, but he also hits the deck fairly hard and gets the ball to skid through. The 22-year-old is one of those bowlers who bowl the heavy ball and can hurry the batsmen.

Tom offers a lot

Curran has had a few limited-over games under his belt and has impressed one and all with his skills. The English skipper Joe Root is hopeful that the young man will make his opportunity count in the longest format of the game as well and will make a difference for the team.

“Tom offers a lot and is a real competitor. He has that real sort of work ethic and the way he goes about things is very similar to Craig (Overton) actually. The way he gets involved in the contest and you know he is going to get involved in absolutely everything.” Root was quoted saying by cricket.com.au.

The England team management had quite a few options to replace Overton and one of them was Mark Wood who is probably the quickest bowler going around in England at the moment, but the Poms decided to go with Curran and according to Root, it wasn’t an easy call to make.

“We certainly had a little while thinking about it on this surface and these conditions. For the balance of this team I think Tom (Curran) is the best option,” the skipper remarked.

Curran, who was born in South Africa, has taken 171 wickets in 51 first-class games at an average of 29.14. He is quite handy with the bat as well lower down the order as he has 5 fifties to his name at the county level.