England and Surrey all-rounder Tom Curran has announced his decision to step away from red-ball cricket. The player cited that he wished to focus more on white-ball cricket and care for his physical and mental health.
Curran has been prone to injuries and missed several matches in the domestic season last year. Recently, he was ruled out of the first four months of 2022 with a stress fracture of his lower back. He is, however, playing in the ILT20 and will head to the Pakistan Super League next. He will also continue to represent Surrey in the T20 Blast and Oval Invincibles in The Hundred.
When talking about his decision to step down, Curran stated, “The last couple of years have not been easy for me; I have had a lot of time, and this isn’t a decision that I’ve taken lightly. Some choices in life I don’t think you will ever be 100 percent sure about, and this is definitely one of them. But where I find myself at this exact moment, I feel like it is the right decision for my body and for my mental health.”
“I’m definitely not ruling out playing red-ball cricket again in the future, and I feel like I have unfinished business in this format for both Surrey and England,” he added
Curran’s Career So Far
In his career so far, Curran has played 61 first-class matches and represented England in two Tests during the 2017-18 Ashes series. The year after, he featured in two first-class matches for Surrey County Cricket Club and registered his maiden first-class century against Northamptonshire in the 2019 County Championship season.
In white ball cricket, Curran appeared in 28 ODIs, and 30 T20Is for his country and last played a game in 2021.
Globally, Curran is regarded as an accomplished franchise cricketer. He has donned the jerseys of teams like Surrey in the Vitality Blast and has also played for the Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.
Recently, Curran has bagged six wickets from seven matches while playing for the Desert Vipers in the ongoing inaugural season of the UAE’s International League T20 (ILT20).
Alec Stewart’s Response to Decision
When Curran’s decision was announced, Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, admitted that losing a player like Tom Curran is likely to have a big impact on the team in the County Championship.
According to an interview, Stewart had spoken to the all-rounder regarding the decision and fully supports it.
“Obviously, when you lose a player of Tom’s quality from your County Championship squad it is a blow, but I have spoken to him at length about his decision and understand why he has made it,” he elaborated.
He added, “He has suffered with injuries in recent years and if this can help strengthen his body and keep him on a cricket field more regularly over the coming years, I fully support the decision. I look forward to seeing him back in May for our own T20 season.”