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Brendon McCullum has revealed he had a stern chat with Sam Curran, reminding him that his performances had tapered off after early fame and success.
Sam Curran has had multi-crore contracts in the IPL.
(PC: AFP)
Brendon McCullum has revealed that he had a stern, serious talk with Sam Curran over how his performances have ‘tailed off’ in recent months. McCullum said he mentioned to Curran about the ‘lot of success’ and ‘lot of fame’ he got early in his career, suggesting that now was the time to back that up again with consistency.
Curran burst through the international scene in 2018 during a home Test series against India, where he was one of the top performers while still being barely 20 years old. That earned him crores worth of IPL contracts but it was surrounded by continued success for the national team, including a Player of the Tournament performance at the 2022 men’s T20 World Cup. However, since then, he has been in and out of the squad.
He wasn’t getting a look-in since McCullum took over as a white-ball coach earlier this year, but has earned a call-up for the South Africa T20Is after good performances in The Hundred and for Surrey.
“The message to Sam was that a lot’s come to you quickly and you’ve had a lot of success and a lot of fame, and a lot of things have fallen your way,” McCullum said on Monday, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “But, of late, your performance had just tailed off a bit… With us resting both Jamie (Smith) and Ben (Duckett), it gives us the opportunity to bring Sam in, and he’ll get his chance to bat in the top six.”
McCullum further spoke about the need to rest and rotate squads, describing England’s packed schedule ‘not ideal’. Both Duckett and Smith have earned the rest after months of non-stop cricket, including the India Test series and the Hundred. Stuart Broad even described the team as ‘tired’ when they struggled against South Africa in ODIs.
“The scheduling isn’t ideal,” McCullum said after England’s consolation win in Southampton. “That’s just the way it is and it’s not going to change, so we’re going to have to find ways to deal with it… We’re just going to have to find ways to be able to hit the ground running a bit quicker than what we did in this one.
“I spoke to [Duckett] and I said, ‘I think you need to freshen up. You’ve played so much cricket and you’re such an influential player for us over the next few months.’ He’ll have a decent break at home, as will Jamie Smith… It gives the other guys opportunities, and it’s exciting, too. If we just rely on 11 players, then we’re not really going to be competitive.”
September 08, 2025, 18:57 IST
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