Sunday Mirror

Sam: I’m the man to Stoke up England

CURRAN IS AIMING TO EMULATE HIS HERO

- BY DEAN WILSON

SAM CURRAN is hoping to be a copycat Ben Stokes as he tries to fill the gap left by England’s finest all-rounder in the world-champion ODI side.

Curran has long looked up to his teammate for inspiratio­n as a talented young all-rounder turning games England’s way with bat or ball.

And he did just that on Friday in helping to steer the first Stokes-less side to the win that sets up a series decider today at Headingley.

It might only have been 35 from 18 balls with the bat and 1-5 from two overs with the ball, but they were utterly crucial contributi­ons and earned Curran his third man-of-the-match award from just 15 games.

“Every time I get the opportunit­y I want to make sure I’m contributi­ng,” said the peroxide-blond Curran.

“I’ve always looked up to Stokesy as a cricketer and I almost want to try to copy him.

“I’ve always tried to follow the way he trains and the way he plays. He’s obviously a huge loss and the boys are going to miss him.

“An allrounder who has played over 100 games for England, a leader, captain of the Test team now.

“The experience he brings, chatting about what the wicket is doing, how things will work, angles at the crease, small things like that.

“Obviously, he’s retired from one-day cricket now and is going to be a massive miss, but he’ll go down as one of the greats for England.”

Despite still being just 24 Curran has already played more than 50 matches for England across all three formats and has returned from his first major injury, a stress fracture of the back.

As he continues to build up his stamina and

workload, the left-hander is hoping to squeeze his way back into the Test team and link up with Stokes (above) once more in red-ball cricket.

Curran scored his maiden first-class hundred for Surrey against Kent in June to get the monkey off his

back – although numbers alone do not tell the whole story.

He has a huge appetite for all three formats and playing as much cricket as he can, although he too will have to make a decision at some point with schedules only getting busier.

“I want to play all formats,” added Curran. “I love playing cricket. Players will make their own decisions but I want to keep contributi­ng.

“That first hundred was something I needed to do. Hopefully they can come more often. It gave me great confidence because it made me believe I can do it and if selected I’d love to get back into the Test team.

“My body is holding up okay. I was managed very carefully, which I’m pleased about, because it was my first big injury.”

The next step for now though is trying to secure a first ODI series win of the summer.

“It will be massive to win a series in one-day cricket,” he added. “There’s been some big changes. We’ll be buzzing if we win.”

Paceman Brydon Carse has been ruled out of the decider with a bruised toe.

 ?? ?? He is going to be
a massive miss. He’ll go down as one of the greats
BLOND AMBITION Curran celebrates taking the wicket of South Africa’s David Miller at
Old Trafford
He is going to be a massive miss. He’ll go down as one of the greats BLOND AMBITION Curran celebrates taking the wicket of South Africa’s David Miller at Old Trafford

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