PRECOCIOUS teenage cricketer Sam Curran believes playing for England Under 19s will be a great experience, writes Richard Ashton.

The Wellington College student – described by ex-England captain Alec Stewart as “the most talented 17-year-old he has ever seen” – received his first call-up on Thursday after once again starring for county side Surrey.

Along with 20-year-old brother Tom – who also went to the Crowthorne school and has been picked for the England Performance Programme – the Currans last week became the first siblings to take all 10 wickets in a County Championship innings since 1950 during their game with Northamptonshire.

And a memorable day was topped off with his international call-up.

He told the News: “I’m going away to Sri Lanka in December and then hopefully if all goes well the World Cup is in Bangladesh in January which would be a great experience if I was picked.”

Curran’s staggering rise into Surrey’s first team has seen him play in a Lord’s final and play a key role in the county’s Second Division championship win, and the all-rounder admits it has been a whirlwind four months.

He confessed: “It has been a great experience. I have learnt a significant amount about my game and have got a few things I want to work on in the winter.

“I didn’t expect to be playing in the first team at the beginning of the summer, so I’m very, very happy with how everything went.”

He continued: “I said to somebody the other day if I knew I was going to win a championship and get to a Lord’s final at the beginning of the summer I would have said you’re being silly – I was just hoping to play a couple of second XI games.

“But I know I need to work very hard this winter to get a place in the team for next summer.”

Having debuted in a Twenty20 against Kent back in June, Curran – who was back in school on Monday – established himself in the first class game and ended the season with a highly impressive batting average of 47.80 in his six outings. He also took 22 wickets at 26.13.

Curran starred in Surrey’s run to the Royal London Cup Final, and, batting at number six in the final against Gloucestershire, nearly led his side to victory before getting out for 37 in the final over.

His maturity under pressure impressed former international captains Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, and the youngster admitted: “I felt all I needed to do was stay calm and just focus on getting the team over the line and nothing else.

“I just wanted to take the game as deep as possible. I was playing it over by over, and the whole way through I knew a couple of boundaries would change the game.

“It was definitely a day that I won’t forget, although the result was not what we would have liked. It was a very enjoyable day and a great experience and I can only look forward to many more hopefully.”