Tom Curran caps 'unbelievable couple of months' with match-winning five-wicket haul for England over Australia
Curran was not expected to be involved in England's Ashes squad but played two Tests
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Your support makes all the difference.Tom Curran reflected on “an unbelievable couple of months” that started with him being called up out of the blue to replace Steven Finn in England’s Ashes squad, then playing in the final two Tests and now taking a match-winning five-wicket haul for Eoin Morgan’s one-day side.
The 22-year-old Surrey seamer said: “I’m just looking to take it all in – it’s a very special day. It’s been crazy. I had most of October off training for the Big Bash in December. But then I got a call and I hadn’t really started training. It’s been a rollercoaster and has just all happened so quickly.”
His five for 35 sealed England’s dramatic 12-run win and 4-1 series victory over Australia in the very first match at Perth’s new Optus Stadium in front of a 53,000 crowd.
“What a stadium, what a day and what a team to be a part of,” he added, with a turn of phrase as succinct as his skilled reverse-swing to close out England’s unlikely victory.
Asked if he thrives on pressure situations, he said: “Of course. That’s why we train as players. You want to be asked to perform in the big moments. You want to be involved when it can go either way. That’s when you get the most satisfaction.”
England captain Eoin Morgan added: “You look for guys to take chances. It’s not easy when you haven’t played for a while. It did swing the momentum nicely.”
Morgan was still unhappy with England’s fielding lapses, including three dropped catches. He said: “It’s certainly something we’ll discuss. There were mistakes we shouldn’t make. In crucial moments you want to be taking those half chance because they don’t come around very often.”
Australian captain Steve Smith reiterated his desire to remain one-day captain despite the series result and his own poor form. He said: “I’d like to keep taking this team forward.
“I haven’t done as well with the bat as I would have liked in this series. Both me and Davey Warner haven’t stepped up and that really hurts your team when your two senior players aren’t scoring the runs they ought to be.”
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