Sports: Sam Curran admitted that he was a little bit 'gutted' not to be considered as Ben Stokes' replacement when the England Test captain was injured ahead of the Sri Lanka series. Curran, who last played a Test match in 2021 against India at Headingley, mentioned that he talked to England men's team managing director Rob Key a few weeks ago to get an idea of where he stands as far as his Test comeback is concerned.

"I'll be totally honest, when Stokesy got injured, I did probably think that was my way back into the Test team," Curran told talkSport. "A couple of weeks back, I had a meeting with Keysy [Rob Key, director of cricket] just to get a bit of understanding of where the group is, and how I see myself getting back into the Test side."

Curran, who has been a regular in T20Is and ODIs for England, said that Stokes' injury provided an ideal way for him to get into the side. However, England decided to play an extra seamer in three Tests against Sri Lanka. Stokes, who tore his hamstring during the Hundred match for the Northern Superchargers, is yet to recover fully as he missed the first Test against Pakistan too.

"Being a young player who experienced Test cricket so young, I feel like I had an advantage to know what it's about, to know what winning a Test match is, and the grind and the grit and attitude that you need … so I was a little bit gutted. Selection is selection, but I thought that was my way back into the side at the minute," Curran added.

The 26-year-old all-rounder was of the view that the Test team currently has a set structure at this point and the selectors have picked bowlers with extra pace and hence unless that plan comes to an end in maybe 12 months, he might not have an opportunity to sneak in.

In place of Stokes, England rotated the likes of Olly Stone, Matt Potts and Josh Hull during the Sri Lanka Tests while handng a debut to Brydon Carse in Multan against Pakistan.