World Cup win will galvanise England Test team at Ashes, avers Curran

Sam Curran believes England’s historic World Cup triumph will inspire the Ashes team as attention turns towards their attempt to regain the urn. Sunday’s dramatic end to the 50-over tournament has overshadowed the build-up to the five-Test showdown against Australia, which gets under way on Aug.1 at Edgbaston.

Curran feels the Ashes remains the pinnacle of the cricketing calendar but said the Test team would be galvanised by the World Cup, irrespective of whether they featured or not in the one-day triumph.

“I don’t think I’m alone in saying that it’s probably the greatest cricket match ever and for that to be the World Cup final was incredible,” said the 21-year-old all-rounder. “That will provide a buzz for everyone across English cricket going into the Ashes.

“Days like Sunday get everyone, whether they were involved or not, more excited and desperate to do well so I’m sure it will rub off as we head into the Test part of the summer.

“The Ashes are the biggest thing you can play in as an England cricketer, that’s what I’ve always felt. Hopefully we can be lifting the urn at the Oval in September.”

Curran, whose older brother Tom was an unused squad member during the World Cup, has been drafted into England’s groups for the one-off Test against Ireland next week and a pre-Ashes training camp.

The left armer was England Lions’ standout performer against an Australian XI earlier this week, taking six for 95 and contributing a pair of half-centuries in a drawn first-class match at Canterbury.

Curran enjoyed a breakthrough summer last year, being named England player of the Test series against India after star contributions with both bat and ball, leading to a bumper pay day in the Indian Premier League.

Meanwhile, New Zealand pacer Trent Boult, who is still trying to coming to terms with the gut-wrenching defeat to England in the World Cup final, believes the feeling after the loss will not disappear in the coming days.

A sombre group of Black Caps consisting Boult, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Colin Munro, Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner touched down on home soil on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at the Auckland International Airport, Boult said he was still thinking about the last over of the World Cup final where the deflection off Ben Stokes’s bat raced to the boundary and helped send the summit clash into a Super Over before England claimed the win on the total boundaries scored at Lord’s.

“I’m living the last over in my mind a lot. Somehow I got hit for six along the ground which has never happened before ... I’d love it to sink in so we can get over it,” Boult was quoted as saying.

“It was an amazing stage to be on. It could have been us, but unfortunately it wasn’t,” he added.

James Anderson, Stokes’ Test team-mate, has, however, revealed that the all-rounder, who was hugely apologetic the moment the incident happened, had appealed to the umpires to overturn their decision.

Boult further revealed that he was not aware of the fact that there would be a Super Over until the second to last ball of the game.

“When I saw three off two, that’s when the umpires told me there would be a Super Over. Crazy game to be a part of,” he said.

“It’s not going to be something that disappears over the next couple of days. It’ll be something that’s hard to swallow over the next couple of years. Obviously we’re all hurting,” he added.

Earlier, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised Kane Williamson’s men for putting up a brave fight on the sport’s biggest stage.

Agencies