Curtis Campher pride at strong debut display for Ireland

Irish cricket’s man-of-the-moment Curtis Campher says that nothing much should change for today’s second Royal London ODI against England despite the six-wicket defeat in the series opener on Thursday.
Ireland's Curtis Campher fields during the First One Day International of the Royal London Series at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Pic by PA.Ireland's Curtis Campher fields during the First One Day International of the Royal London Series at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Pic by PA.
Ireland's Curtis Campher fields during the First One Day International of the Royal London Series at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Pic by PA.

“We must make sure we assess conditions early on and adapt,” Campher said. “I think the batters are in good enough nick and they have enough quality.

“It’s another game of cricket; hopefully we can put the basics together.”

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Campher – who was born in Johannesburg, but has an Irish grandmother – scored an impressive unbeaten 59 on debut and took a wicket with the ball.

He said that it was a dream start to international cricket.

“It has been a dream come true,” he said. “I didn’t expect it (the debut) to happen so soon; it has been amazing so far and I’m just trying to take it all in.

“The biggest thing that the guys said to me was ‘take it all in and enjoy the day’, I think I did that well.

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“I tried to stay in the moment [for] as long as possible, I didn’t want to make everything a blur because you only have an ODI debut once.”

The 21-year-old said that the support he has had from friends and family – including mum Ingrid and dad Paul - has been pleasing.

“I got messages from everyone saying how proud they were,” he said. “They have done a lot for me and sacrificed a lot for me to be here; it was nice for me to reward them with something to be honest.”

Ireland will be without bowler Barry McCarthy for the rest of series after an MRI scan revealed a tear of a muscle in the back of the knee.

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The 27-year-old left the field after just five balls on Thursday night.

Boyd Rankin (back) has been replaced in the squad by Peter Chase for today’s match.

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