Sam Curran scored his second first-class hundred during the Division One County Championship match between Surrey and Durham today (June 29).
Put into bat at The Oval, Surrey started strong with captain Rory Burns scoring a half-century (55). Ryan Patel, the No.3, was out cheaply, bringing Sam Curran to the crease at No.4. Along with Dom Sibley, Curran stitched a mammoth 170-run third-wicket partnership, reaching his second first-class hundred in the process.
Soon after reaching his hundred, Curran was caught by Jimmy Neesham, playing his first first-class match in three years, off the bowling of George Drissell for 108 off just 124 balls.
The last (and the first) time Curran scored a first-class ton was in 2022 against Kent when he made 126 against an attack comprising international bowlers like Jacob Duffy and George Linde. In this game, Durham had two international seamers in Matt Potts and Neesham in their lineup.
Surrey eventually ended the first day on 407-3, with Sibley finishing unbeaten on 169 and Dan Lawrence remaining not out overnight on a 55-ball 58.
Match 75, Surrey vs Durham
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Sam Curran's batting transformation
Sam Curran started his career as a pure seam-bowling all-rounder who would bat lower down the order. Having made his Test debut in 2018, Curran never really fit into a fixed role, sometimes being used a floater in white-ball cricket and shuffling between bowling with the new ball and at the death.
He last played a Test match for England in 2021 against India, and has been out of the reckoning ever since, particularly after the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes duo took over leadership of the Test team. From 24 Tests, Curran averages 24.69 with the bat and has taken 47 wickets at 35.51 with the ball.
However, in the last year or so, there seems to have been a clear shift in his focus towards batting. Last year in the Caribbean, Curran had success as a middle order batter in T20Is for England, and in the County Championship this season, Surrey have promoted him as high as No.4 in the batting order.
In the four innings he has played in the 2025 County Championship, Curran has crossed 50 thrice. He has scored 263 runs at 65.75 and has done so at a more than decent clip, striking at 77.81.
On the other hand, his role with the ball has not been significant. He has only bowled 27 overs in three innings, picking up three wickets at 31.33.
Whether this ends up being a full-blown transformation into a pure batter for Curran in the near future remains to be seen, but his hundred against Durham sure points to a move in that direction.
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