Lahore, 27 September 2022: England all-rounder Sam Curran is delighted to get some game time in international colours after missing an extended period of competitive cricket due to injury. The 23-year-old, who bowls left-arm medium pace, was part of the England side that toured the Netherlands in June – his first international assignment since the home Test series against India the previous summer.
Curran chatted to PCB Digital in the build-up to the ongoing seven-match T20I series in Pakistan, speaking on various topics including his cricketing family, the different approaches to T20 and Test cricket, seeking help from teammates who have played in the PSL and playing white-ball cricket against Pakistan for the first time.
Below are the excerpts from his interview:
Q. You belong to a cricketing family with your brothers, father and grandfather all being professional cricketers. Can you shed light on this aspect and how it was growing up in their presence?
A. I've had two brothers who played cricket. So, we were very competitive in the garden and playing with our friends. My dad and my dad's dad were all cricketers so the game was in our blood from a very young age. It's great to be now living the dream, playing for England and coming, touring the world and playing in countries like my first time in Pakistan, which is very exciting. I think it's a cricketing family, but now it's about performing and making our family proud.
Q. Several players in the current England side have played in the HBL Pakistan Super League. Have you sought guidance from them and how helpful has it been?
A. There's obviously a load of guys who have come out to the HBL Pakistan Super League, which they've all had an amazing time at and we've spoken to them about different conditions that we might face and obviously played against some of the players we playing against. So their experience will be great for us as a team to pick their brains in practice and training and stuff like that.
But for a lot of the guys, it is their first time touring here. So that's going to be exciting and great preparation for the World Cup.
Q. This is your first time playing a T20I against Pakistan. How do you see this challenge?
A. I've played against a few of the guys at the Under-19 World Cup as well, like Shadab Khan, which was pretty cool. Pakistan are a very strong team and boast some very dangerous players. We will be trying our best and I'm sure they will be as well.
Q. How differently do you approach Test cricket and T20 cricket?
A. T20 is a much more explosive game and you've got to be a lot more reactive in the game and you've got to have all areas of your game covered - slower balls, yorkers and batting as well on the wickets that spin.
Test cricket is a long format. So it's a lot more time at the at the crease and trying to occupy the crease for a bit longer and adjusting to conditions using different skills. But they are very different, the basics will always still be there for both formats. It's just about adapting to this scenario in the game.
Q. Having made a return to the England side this summer after a time off due to injury, how do you see yourself going forward?
A. Time off because of the injury was nice in a way. It was nice to just kind of get away from the game.
It's been good for a few months. I had a good summer in England and now exciting winter ahead with the Test series here. Then we go on to a World Cup, which I missed last year, so that's very exciting for me and for the team to hopefully go that one step better this year having lost in the semi-final last year.
Let's try and get to the final and hopefully win it.
