Samuel Matthew Curran (born 3 June 1998) is an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who has played for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in all formats. Although he is best known as a limited overs player, Curran has expressed his desire to return to the Test side, his last Test having been in 2021 against India. In domestic cricket, he represents

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and has played in multiple

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

leagues. Curran made his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

and

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debuts in 2018, and his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

debut in 2019. He was part of the England team that won the 2022 T20 World Cup, taking the most wickets for England at the tournament and was named Player of the Tournament. He plays as a left-handed

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

, bowling medium fast. He holds the English record for the best T20I bowling figures, 5–10 against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in 2022. In the

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...

, Curran became the first English bowler to take a wicket off the first ball on World Cup debut.

Early life and education

Sam Curran was born on 3 June 1998 in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, England, as the third son of the former

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

international cricketer Kevin Curran and his wife Sarah (while his father played county cricket for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

). He is the youngest brother of a Surrey and England cricketer Tom Curran, and

batsman Ben Curran. He grew up in Zimbabwe and was educated at Springvale House, Marondera and St. George's College, Harare. He spent his early years on the family farm in Rusape before the family left the farm during a period of

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

in Zimbabwe. In 2012, he moved to England and was educated at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

Domestic and T20 career

Curran represented Surrey at Under-15, Under-17, and Second XI level. During the 2014 season he represented Weybridge in the Surrey Championship Premier Division. He was described by Surrey director of cricket

Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart (born 8 April 1963) is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most- capped En ...

as "the best 17-year-old cricketer that I have seen". Curran made his senior debut in a

match in the

NatWest t20 Blast The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is t ...

tournament against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

on 19 June 2015, aged 17 years and 16 days. He made his first-class debut in a

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

fixture against Kent at The Oval on 13 July 2015. At the age of 17 years and 40 days he became Surrey's second youngest first-class cricketer in history after Tony Lock, who debuted exactly 69 years earlier at the age of 17 years and 8 days, also against Kent at The Oval. He returned figures of 5/101 in the first innings, and is believed to be the youngest-ever player to take five wickets in a County Championship match. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut in a Royal London One-Day Cup match against Northamptonshire at The Oval on Thursday 27 July 2015. He was signed by Auckland Aces for the 2017–18 Super Smash. In December 2018, he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab in the player auction for the

2019 Indian Premier League The 2019 Indian Premier League season (also known as IPL 12) was the twelfth season of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. At one point othe ...

for . In March 2019, he was named as one of eight players to watch by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) ahead of the 2019 Indian Premier League tournament. In the

, he scored quickfire 20 runs as opener and took a hat-trick in his second match, against

Delhi Capitals The Delhi Capitals, formerly the Delhi Daredevils, also known as DC, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Delhi that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by GMR Group and JSW Sports. Its home groun ...

which helped Kings XI Punjab to win by 14 runs, earning him the player of the match award. He also scored a quick fifty of just 23 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2019 Indian Premier League. He was released by the Kings XI Punjab ahead of the 2020 IPL auction. In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League. In April 2022, he was bought by the Oval Invincibles for the 2022 season of The Hundred. In June 2022, Curran took his first

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

in Twenty20 cricket, with 5/30 against the Hampshire Hawks in the 2022 T20 Blast. Later the same month, in the

match against

, Curran scored his maiden century in first-class cricket, with 126 runs. He reached his hundred off just 62 balls.

International career

Curran represented

Zimbabwe Cricket Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

U13s cricket team at the 2011–12 CSA U13 Week in South Africa, where he won the player of the tournament. He represented England Under-19s at the 2016 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where he played all six games, scoring 201 runs and taking seven wickets to help his team finish sixth. He was selected for the England Lions for their 2016–17 tour of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, and again for their match against South Africa A at

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in the 2017 season. Curran received his first senior call-up for

in January 2018 for the 2017-18 Trans-Tasman Tri-Series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, but did not play any games. On 30 May 2018 he was added to the England

squad ahead of the second Test against Pakistan, as cover for

Ben Stokes Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is List of England cricket captains, the captain of the England cricket team, England Test cricket, Test team. Stokes has played for England in all three forma ...

. He made his Test debut at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on 1 June 2018. Curran scored 20 in England's only innings, and returned match figures of 2/43. On 24 June 2018, he made his

debut against Australia. Curran retained his place in the England squad for the Test series against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In the first Test at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

he took 4/74 in the first innings, including the wickets of India's top three batsmen, and scored 63 in England's second innings, and was awarded Player of the Match. After being omitted from the England team for the third Test, he returned in place of the injured

Chris Woakes Christopher Roger Woakes (born 2 March 1989) is an English cricketer who plays internationally for England cricket team, England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Warwickshire County Cricket Club, Warwickshire, and has played i ...

at the Rose Bowl, where he top scored in England's first innings with 78. Curran registered his first Test

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

in the fifth Test at

, but was named England's Player of the Series against India, having contributed 272 runs and 11 wickets in England's 4–1 series victory. He was named Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year for his performances in the 2018 season. Curran played two Tests during England's tour of Sri Lanka in November 2018, scoring 112 runs at an average of 37.33, but only took a single wicket. He played in the final Test of England's home series against Australia in September 2019, taking three wickets in Australia's first innings. Later that month he was named in England's Test and

(T20I) squads for their series against New Zealand. He made his T20I debut for England, against

, on 1 November 2019. Curran played two Tests in the 2019 England tour of the West Indies, making 50 runs in four innings and taking one wicket at an average of 161. In the 2019 Test summer, Curran took 6 wickets at 16 and scored 87 runs at 21.8, in one Test against Ireland and the fifth Ashes Test. After playing only two tests in the summer, Curran played all six Tests of the 2019–20 winter tours of

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In the two New Zealand Tests, Curran took 6 wickets at an average of 39.7 and made 40 in three innings. In South Africa, Curran made 130 runs in 7 innings, and took 10 wickets at an average of 32.6, which included career best figures of 4/58 in the first Test. On 29 May 2020, Curran was named in a 55-man group of players to begin training ahead of international fixtures starting in England following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 17 June 2020, Curran was included in England's 30-man squad to start training behind closed doors for the

series against the West Indies. On 4 July 2020, Curran was named as one of the nine reserve players for the first Test match of the series. In the 2020 England summer, Curran played in one Test against the West Indies and one against Pakistan, scoring 17 in his only innings and taking 4 wickets at an average of 36. Curran was included in the squad for England's 2021 tour of Sri Lanka. Curran then played in all 5 T20I matches, and all 3 ODI matches as part of England's 2021 winter tour of India. On 28 March 2021, in the final ODI match of the tour, Curran was awarded Player of the Match for scoring 95* in England's attempted run chase of 329 set by India. England lost the match by 7 runs. On 1 July 2021, in the second match against Sri Lanka, Curran took his first

in ODI cricket. On 16 August 2021 in the second test against India, Curran was the first batter to get a king pair at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. In September 2021, Curran was named in England's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. However, on 5 October 2021, Curran was ruled out of England's squad due to a back injury, with his brother, Tom, named as his replacement. He was out of action for around seven months making his comeback in the County Championship for Surrey on 21 April 2022 against Somerset. In May 2024, he was named in England’s squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament.

2022 T20 World Cup

In England's opening match against

, Curran took a

(the first by an England player in T20Is), helping England win the match and earning him the

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award. In the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

he took 3/12 wickets in 4 overs and was again named Man of the Match. He was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, taking 13 wickets with a bowling average of 11.38, and was named Player of the Tournament for his efforts. Curran was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to cricket.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Sam 1995 births Living people English cricketers England Test cricketers England One Day International cricketers England Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers from Northampton Surrey cricketers Alumni of St. George's College, Harare People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire English people of Zimbabwean descent Sportspeople of Zimbabwean descent Auckland cricketers Cricketers at the 2023 Cricket World Cup North v South cricketers Sam Wisden Cricketers of the Year Chennai Super Kings cricketers English expatriate cricketers in India Oval Invincibles cricketers MI Cape Town cricketers Members of the Order of the British Empire Punjab Kings cricketers