Sam Curran satisfied as Oval Invincibles sign up "world class" Sunil Narine and Sandeep Lamichhane

NICK FRIEND AT THE HUNDRED DRAFT: Narine, who could well open the batting alongside Jason Roy at the Oval, was the fifth player of the evening to be drafted, going in the maximum £125,000 salary band

Sam Curran admitted he expects spin to play a key part in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, after his Oval Invincibles side used two of their first four draft picks to sign up international spinners.

West Indian mystery spinner Sunil Narine and Nepalese leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane were signed up to lead Tom Moody’s bowling attack at a ground where spin has traditionally played an important part.

Narine, who could well open the batting alongside Jason Roy at the Oval, was the fifth player of the evening to be drafted, going in the maximum £125,000 salary band.

Lamichhane, who played for Delhi Capitals in last season’s Indian Premier League and has become a star attraction of leagues around the world, was brought in as Invincibles’ second pick of the second round for £100,000.

“We’re pretty happy,” Curran admitted. “The Oval is a pretty big ground and spinners generally do pretty well there. I think it’s really exciting. He's a world-class spinner.

“Two very skilful, top spinners, who’ve played in all the top leagues. They’ll bring some experience, which we’ll need. It’s going to be fun.”

In last season’s T20 Blast, Imran Tahir was Surrey’s leading wicket-taker on pitches that were receptive to spin. Veteran off-spinner Gareth Batty had the second-best economy rate of any bowler for the county in the competition.

^{Sam Curran has a red-ball contract with England and, therefore, could miss much of The Hundred}

“If you look at the time of the tournament, it’s going to be late in the summer so the wickets may be a little bit drier,” Curran added. “Generally, in T20, spinners do win you a lot of games in the middle overs, take a lot of wickets. All the spinners that are being signed are pretty world-class.

“It’s quite interesting because nobody knows the format. That’s going to be the biggest part – nobody understands how to win a 100-ball game, so I think there’s going to be a lot of plans and tactics.

“Nobody knows the best way to play 100-ball cricket because it’s never been played. So far, it looks like spin might be the one.”

Curran, who made his IPL debut last season for Kings XI Punjab, will only be available for his team intermittently, depending on his involvement with England’s Test series against Pakistan.

Although he enjoyed mixed fortunes in his first year of IPL cricket – he was expensive with the ball and was occasionally used as a top-order pinch-hitter with the bat, he believes that the stint made him a better player, having shared a dressing room with Chris Gayle and Ravi Ashwin among others.

“As a young county player, you learn from the big guys in the dressing room,” he said. “From my experience in the IPL, that’s probably what I took the most from.

“You go into a dressing room and you’ve got these Indian superstars. You watch the way they train and things like that. It’s going to be really exciting for the younger players and English players in The Hundred, learning from the big names and trying to pick their brains about top-level cricket.”

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