By Andy Wilson
Surrey’s Sam Curran set up a comfortable win today for the England Development Programme under-17s against a United Arab Emirates XI in Dubai.
Curran, the 16-year-old son of the former Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and Zimbabwe all-rounder Kevin, took 5-27 as the UAE were all out for 168 inside 46 of their 50 overs on the first game of the EDP tour, ahead of four fixtures against Pakistan. There were also two wickets for Ben Twohig, a left-arm spinner from Worcestershire.
Max Holden, the tour captain and one of four Middlesex players in the squad, then hit an unbeaten half century, and his opening partner George Bartlett, from Somerset, also retired on 36 to give other batsmen some time at the crease.
Curran and Tom Moores, the wicketkeeping son of the England coach Peter who joined Nottinghamshire from Leicestershire during the autumn, completed a nine-wicket win with 13 overs to spare.
“The preparation phase in Dubai has gone really well,” said Iain Brunnschweiler, the head coach. “It has taken the squad a few days to acclimatise to the heat, but the group have gone about training impressively.
“We have spent time considering how we can be effective in the conditions and today’s warm-up match provided our first opportunity to test our skills against local opposition in sub-continental conditions.
“The match has been a really good run out for the squad, all the players have contributed in some way, they will hopefully be in a confident mood moving into the series against Pakistan U17.”