Curtis Campher: Future Ireland Star?

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The 21 year old Irish all rounder has impressed everyone with bat and ball in the series against England. 

He is a South African by birth and has played U19 Cricket for the Proteas before moving to Ireland. Campher had an Irish passport because his grandmother was Irish but it was Niall O'Brien who brought him to Ireland National Team.

Niall O' Brien told how a Mid match chat triggered Campher's move from South Africa to Ireland:-

"Campher played under-19s for South Africa in England and got Tom Banton out. I played against him in Pretoria in 2018," said Niall O'Brien before the series. "I was at the non-striker's end and he just whispered in my ear - I got an Irish passport. So I thought, right, well, have a bit of this and he played well, bowled well, batted well. And after the game, some conversation started happening and he was very interested in playing for Ireland."He is a clean hitter, bowls skiddy medium pace and apparently he has got that die-hard South African attitude, which I love."

In three games in his debut series he has scored 127 runs in 2 innings and averaging 127 with the bat and 28.8 with the ball.

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In the first match the Irish batting unit struggled against the English bowling attack and were reduced to 28/5. Campher came to bat in his debut with his side reeling at 28/5. He went on to stitch valuable stands with the veteran Kevin I'M Brien and Andy Mcbrine to help Ireland post a respectable 172. Campher top scored with 59* off 118 balls(the second highest score by an Irish debutant) and became the third Irish player to score a half-century on debut and fifth player in the world to score a half-century and take at least one wicket on men’s ODI debut since 2015.

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He impressed everyone with his patience. Many people criticised him for playing slow but in my opinion this was what Ireland needed at that time. 

Even the skipper Andy Balbirnie was impressed with the youngster. In the interview he praised Campher's innings. Let's read what he said on Campher:

"Coming in at 28-5 on your first appearance, there can be a lot of pressure, but he (Campher) had great application and showed what it took to get a score on that wicket," Balbirnie said. "He's been such an impact player for us with bat and ball. He's only got out once in these two games. He's got that dogged fight about him. People want to play with him, they want to bat around him and bowl in partnerships with him."

In the 2nd ODI he was again the top scorer of his team. This time he played quicker than his previous innings and scored 68 off 87 with the bat coming in at 78/5 and took 2 wickets with the ball. His performances have earned praise in commentary from Kevin Pietersen, another South African born cricketer who went on to play for England.

Campher's back-to-back half-centuries makes him the first Irish player to record fifty-plus scores in his first two ODI innings. 

In the 3rd ODI, he didn't got the chance to bat but took 2 wickets with the ball. Also, Ireland pulled off their second win against England. But it was Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie who were the architects in this stunning upset, with the pair combining for 255 runs as Ireland completed a 328-run chase.

Ireland have got a player with extreme talent and natural ability in the form of Campher. His all-round talents with both bat and ball should hold Ireland in good position going into the future. They look like they have some great young talents to build their team on. Joshua Little, Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling and Harry Tector are also great Irish talents.