Sam Curran feels losing his England place allowed him to “reset” and go from being an outcast to gradually gaining the faith of head coach Brendon McCullum.

Until last month, Curran had conspicuously never been selected in any format by McCullum, who believed the all-rounder had not kicked on since his unlikely leading role in England’s 2022 T20 World Cup win.

Dropped from both white-ball sides in January, Curran was told his route back in was as a batter in the top-six to complement the left-arm seam bowling with which he initially made an impression for England.

Curran rose to the challenge in the Vitality Blast and The Hundred this summer to merit a T20 recall, keeping his spot for the tour of New Zealand , where he excelled in Saturday’s series opener with an unbeaten 49 to salv

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