Ashes 2017: Tom Curran rues missed opportunity to dismiss David Warner as James Anderson criticises MCG pitch

England debutant Curran thought he had Warner caught on 99, only to overstep the mark for a no ball, to leave him with 'the worst feeling I've had'

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England’s Tom Curran described the agony of seeing his first Test wicket chalked off for a no-ball as “the worst feeling I’ve had”. Making his debut on Boxing Day in front of almost 90,000 people, Curran’s Test career appeared to be off to a dream start when he had David Warner caught at mid-on for 99. But Curran’s foot had marginally overstepped the line, and a reprieved Warner went on to reach his century the following ball.

Curran revealed that the previous delivery, he had asked umpire Kumar Dharmasena for guidance on where his foot was landing on the crease. “He said ‘half-and-half’,” Curran said. “So I moved a little bit forward. Gutted. It was horrible, the worst feeling I’ve had, but looking at the positives, I get to get my first wicket twice.”

Warner described the incident as a “rollercoaster of emotions”, admitting that he felt “crap” after being out on 99. “I was disappointed with the way I played that shot,” he said. “Uzzie [Usman Khawaja] spoke about being cautious about the horizontal cut and pull shots, and to play two of them in the same over, I was quite annoyed. Getting recalled was fantastic.”

Curran ended his first day of Test cricket wicketless as Australia compiled a competitive score of 244-3 on an attritional day at the MCG. “It’s been a mixed day,” Curran said. “It was great to make my debut, a very proud day. It was tough work today, it’s a good wicket with not a lot of pace. We kept trying our best; on another day things might have gone slightly differently.”

James Anderson said he too was “gutted” for Curran. “It was hard to watch, really, seeing the elation in his face and then watch it drain from his face a few seconds later when the big screen came up,” he said. “It’s one of things you learn the hard way, on Boxing Day at the MCG.

“The umpires do work hard to let you know when you’re pushing the line. We try and practise in the nets, we have an umpire standing there more often than not. It’s difficult, but with the adrenalin, and Tom wanting to impress in his first Test match, he just put a bit of extra effort.”

Anderson was critical of a pitch that lacked pace and allowed England to slow the run rate in the afternoon session to less than two an over. “You’d think the 90,000 that turned up don’t want to see 244-3,” he said. “People want to see entertaining cricket, especially in an iconic Test match like Boxing Day at the MCG.

“It wasn’t exciting to watch. It wasn’t exciting to play in, to be honest, when it’s attritional like that. But that’s the pitch that we’ve got, and we’ve got to put up with it.”