'Get runs': Curran rises to challenge after exile

All-rounder was given target of being a top-six batter to regain place and delivered against New Zealand

- Simon Burnton

For a while, Sam Curran became used to hearing reasons from England's leadership as to why he was not in the team.

On Saturday, after his unbeaten 49 in the rain-curtailed opening T20 against New Zealand, the message was very different.

“He was given very honest reasons for why he wasn’t selected,” the England captain, Harry Brook, said. “He went back, practised hard, and he’s done really well. He’s going to be around for a while, I think.”

Curran has played in three of England’s last 20 ODIs and earlier this year found himself out of the setup altogether, missing the five T20s in India that were played during the buildup to the Champions Trophy and the home series against West Indies in June. England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum, challenged him to “keep banging the door down”, and before the three T20s against South Africa that ended the domestic summer it finally fell off its hinges.

“I met up with all the people that I needed to,” he said of meetings with McCullum and Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket. “It was quite refreshing. The message was just: ‘Get runs, get wickets, and you'll make your way back in.’ It was very clear what I needed to do.