Not just the new ball that shines...

TOM Curran’s spectacular winter could hardly have concluded with a better North-South Series, as the Surrey man proved himself as a legitimate opening bowler.

Curran shared the new ball with Steven Finn in all three clashes as South cruised to a whitewash victory, and his seven wickets made him the series’ leading wicket-taker.

After impressing for the Lions against Sri Lanka A, the 22-year-old earned a maiden England call as injury cover for the ODIs in the West Indies at the start of March before impressing against northern rivals in Abu Dhabi.

All signs point to another England call-up for the onedayers against Ireland in May and Curran admits he’s thriving being handed the ball first.

“I always enjoy opening the bowling,” he said. “I’ve done it this winter for the Lions so I came in pretty confident.

“My opening spell in the final game wasn’t as good as I would have liked but it was nice to close it out, and in the previous two games I was happy with my opening spells as well.

“It’s pretty easy coming together as a team. Even when we do come across each other in the season you have a few run-ins, but that’s just our nature.

“When you gel together you actually find out pretty quick that everyone’s pretty similar. It’s a really good bunch of boys, and obviously it helps when you’re winning.”

Having won the first game by ten wickets and the second by 47 runs, South’s streak looked in jeopardy until Mason Crane’s brilliant spell of four wickets for one run in ten balls ripped through the heart of North’s line-up, before Curran demolished the tail en-route to a 20-run triumph.

However, there’s no rest for the wicked as Curran now prepares for Surrey’s County Championship opener against Warwickshire next month, looking to emulate the form of 2015 which saw him bag 76 Championship wickets.

“It’s back to England now, have a couple of days rest and recovery, but pretty much straight into the season,” explained Curran.

“I’m going to work in the gym, work in the nets and get ready for that first Championship game.”