England plot a route back
TOM Curran was reluctant to accept England’s under-strength side had been shaken by their seven-wicket defeat to South Africa as the tourists plot a way back into the series at Durban.
In their first one-day international since winning last year’s World Cup, an England team showing a raft of changes from the one that defeated New Zealand in the Lord’s final were outclassed at Cape Town.
England are likely to keep any changes for the penultimate match of the series to a minimum and Curran is confident they can bounce back at Kingsmead, although today’s weather forecast makes for grim reading and may have the final say.
Curran said: “We’ve lost games of cricket before and come back to win the series. I don’t think it’s a massive confidence knock, the boys are going to be training hard ready to try and level the series. I don’t think it will have affected anyone too much.”
England have not lost a bilateral ODI series in three years, when India prevailed 2-1 at the start of 2017, but this is a squad without the rested Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Mark Wood, and the injured Jofra Archer, who has been ruled out of next month’s two-Test series in Sri Lanka, as well as the Indian Premier
We’ve lost games of cricket before and come back to win the series. I don’t think it’s a massive confidence knock. Tom Curran
League, because of the right elbow injury which has blighted his tour of South Africa. Likely to be out of action for around three months, Archer will have another scan in four weeks on a low-grade stress fracture and could commence a back-to-bowling programme soon afterwards, with a view to returning for the start of the English summer.
Curran, an unused squad member during England’s triumphant World Cup campaign, is among those to have benefited from the decision to select a largely secondstring side. But the seam-bowling all-rounder insists he does not need an extra incentive to succeed.
He said: “I don’t necessarily think more motivation, you’re always motivated. When there are guys missing, there are going to be opportunities and no doubt we’ll be looking to take those.
“I didn’t play (at the World Cup) but it hasn’t changed my mentality going into these games, it was a great experience to be a part of that and, if anything, not playing is a little nudge and a little motivator to be out there at the next one.”