England vs Pakistan: Debutant Sam Curran enters record books
England vs Pakistan: Debutant Sam Curran enters record books
Sam Curran replaced an injured Ben Stokes in the Headingley between England and Pakistan. Curran became the seventh-youngest English cricketer to play Test cricket. These are the only seven Englishmen to play Test cricket while still in their teens (Curran will turn 20 on the third day of the Test). Only two (Ben Hollioake and Haseeb Hameed) of these seven men have made their debuts after 1950. Here is the complete list.
| Englishmen to play Test cricket before 20 | |||
| Cricketer | Debut | Age at debut | |
| Years | Days | ||
| Brian Close | 1949 | 18 | 149 |
| Jack Crawford | 1905-06 | 19 | 32 |
| Denis Compton | 1937 | 19 | 83 |
| Ben Hollioake | 1997 | 19 | 269 |
| Haseeb Hameed | 2016-17 | 19 | 297 |
| Ian Peebles | 1927-28 | 19 | 338 |
| Sam Curran | 2018 | 19 | 363 |
Curran’s elder brother Tom has also played two Tests. This made them the 12th pair of brothers to play Test cricket for England. Here is the complete list.
| Brothers playing Tests for England | |
| Family | Brothers |
| Grace | EM, WG, and GF |
| Studd | GB and CT |
| Hearne | Frank and Alec |
| Tyldesley | Johnny and Ernest |
| Gunn | John and George |
| Wilson | Clem and Rockley |
| Gilligan | Arthur and Harold |
| Richardson | Peter and Dick |
| Greig | Tony and Ian |
| Smith | Chris and Robin |
| Hollioake | Adam and Ben |
| Curran | Tom and Sam |
Note:
– All three Grace brothers played against Australia at The Oval in 1880. This is the only instance of three brothers playing for the same side together.
– Frank also played for South Africa. Another brother George also played for South Africa in the Cape Town Test of 1891-92 — when Frank and Alec were playing for England.
– Darren Pattinson played for England while his brother James played for Australia.
Tom and Sam’s father Kevin was one of the early stars of Zimbabwe cricket. Though he played ODIs for them, he did not play Test cricket.