Tom Curran out for "period of time" after suffering PSL stress fracture

This blow comes after Curran took the decision in February to step back from red-ball cricket for "my body and for my mental health"

Nick Friend | 20/03/2023 at 14:28

Tom Curran's trouble with back injuries has continued, with the Surrey seamer returning early from the Pakistan Super League with a stress fracture of the lumbar spine.

Islamabad United initially announced on March 11 that the England fast bowler was leaving the competition after playing five games in the PSL. Previously, he was part of Desert Vipers' run to the ILT20 final.

Since touching down at home, scans on Curran's back have shown the new back injury, with Surrey confirming that he will "be out for a period of time while he recovers and undergoes rehabilitation".

This blow comes after Curran took the decision in February to step back from red-ball cricket for "my body and for my mental health".

A stress fracture to his lower back forced him to miss nearly seven months of action in 2022, including the first half of the county summer.

He returned for the end of Surrey's Blast campaign, The Hundred and played his first County Championship matches since April 2019 in September.

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^{Curran missed much of last summer through injury (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)}

Curran struck a maiden first-class century in the first of those games against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road but will not be available for their title defence this summer.

"The last couple of years have not been easy for me," he said at the time. "I have had a lot of time, and this isn't a decision that I've taken lightly.

"Some choices in life I don't think you will ever be 100 per cent sure and this is definitely one of those. But where I find myself at this exact moment, I feel like it is the right decision for my body and for my mental health.

"I'm definitely not ruling out playing red-ball cricket again in the future, and I feel like I have unfinished business in this format for both Surrey and England.

"But until I can feel 100 per cent committed and confident in my body to be performing day in and day out for Surrey in the County Championship, I feel that putting all my time and focus into our Vitality Blast campaign this year is the right thing to do."