COME AND HAVE A BRO
Not so Super for Sam as Royals’ Tom wins clash of the Currans
TOM CURRAN got his 2020 IPL adventure off to a flier, but bitterly regrets failing to smash brother Sam’s bowling out of the ground.
Normally team-mates, the Surrey and England duo became the first of siblings from these shores to face each other in the biggest T20 tournament in the world.
Tom is turning out for the Anglo- centric Rajasthan Royals, while Sam has joined the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings for a tournament being played in the UAE due to coronavirus.
Tom, the older of the two by three years, came out on top in a 16-run win, and is convinced the presence of 10 England players in the event will be of huge benefit to the national team, with the next T20 World Cup due to take place in similar conditions in India next year.
“It was a strange feeling facing up against him,” said Tom, 25. “We’ve always just played together. “When I started playing for Surrey, Sam came in as the youngster. Obviously, I tried to help him out and he settled in pretty quickly and found his feet.
“We’ve always just tried to help each other out, so it was a different type of concentration really seeing him running in at me.
“The last ball I faced, he tried to bounce me, which was surprising. I wish I’d stood still because I reckon that was my chance to put him into the stands.
“I’d have liked to put him into the stands.” The game had a star turn from Jofra Archer with the bat. He hit four consecutive sixes at the end of the Royals’ innings before taking an impressive 1-26 with the ball on a small ground in Sharjah designed for batsmen. It is a ground someone like Tom Banton will surely be itching to play on, although he was left out of Kolkata Knight Riders’ side on Wednesday.
The sight of Banton warming the bench while his Somerset team-mates battle through their first innings in the Bob Willis Trophy final might sting John Cleese even more, but Curran has his own view.
“It’s a strange situation,” he admitted. “But the IPL is just unbelievable, just the standard. It will be a great experience for all of us guys, and I think it’ll be no different for Bants, mixing around with world- class players, playing against the best.
“It’ll stand him in good stead moving forward, as it does for the rest of the guys.
“After international cricket, you’d say the IPL is the next big thing, so the more cricket and exposure guys can get against the best, the better it will be for all of us.”
Watch Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab in the Dream11 IPL on Sky Sports - Sunday, 3pm