England men’s team selector Marcus North has indicated that all-rounder Sam Curran could return to the Test fold to help fill the void left by Ben Stokes’ retirement ahead of the three-match Test series against Pakistan.
Curran’s last Test appearance came in 2021, and has not featured in the format since. The all-rounder made his debut as a 19-year-old and has played in 24 Tests for the Three Lions between 2018 and 2021.
North admitted Ben Stokes’ retirement had deprived England of the balance he brought to the Test side.
“With the retirement of Ben Stokes, it’s quite clear that he provided us with a certain balance in the team,” North said on Thursday.
He said Curran remained firmly in England’s plans as an all-round option but added that his workload and fitness would determine when he could return.
“Sam Curran is certainly a player of interest for us.”
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“Sam has had a really heavy workload this summer playing a tremendous amount of cricket, and during that time he’s been doing so with a couple of niggles, which you expect most bowlers do. But at this stage with a couple of niggles – we’ve seen he’s missed a game in the Hundred – we don’t feel physically, he’s just quite right there,” he continued.
Marcus North said it would be unfair to include Curran in the first two Tests, adding that England’s medical and support staff would work with the all-rounder in the upcoming days.
“I think [it would be] unfair to put him into these first two Tests. He’s someone our backroom staff and medical team will be working with in the coming weeks to make sure that he potentially becomes an option in the third Test.”
“He’s someone that we really value highly and we see playing a role in the future for us as an allrounder,” the 47-year-old explained.
“He’d be in the squad, I would have thought, and that would give us that option of either playing Sam Curran at No. 6 or 7 if we felt that was the right balance, or going with six [specialist] batters and [Jamie] Smith,” he concluded.
