Tom Curran says he is still on a learning curve as he continues his public audition as a go-to "death" bowler for England.
Curran can hardly be expected to be a master of his trade just yet, still a week away from his 23rd birthday.
But Eoin Morgan has had no hesitation throwing him the ball when the heat is on in the ongoing one-day international series against New Zealand.
Curran has his eyes in the longer term on a place in England's squad for next year's World Cup, as well as adding to his two Test and six Twenty20 caps.
He was robbed by the Dunedin rain of any extra preparation for Wednesday's fourth ODI, as England eye an unassailable 3-1 lead at a venue where the Kiwis have never been beaten.
But Curran is reassured he has spent countless hours already honing the skills which make his slower-ball variations a test for even the world's best batsmen.
"You have time in training to get a feel for all these different slower balls - and if you don't try them, you're not going to learn," he said.
"It's a gut instinct, and out there I make a decision and commit to it."
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Curran has a few more variations in the pipeline, but will be sticking this winter to the ones he knows best.
"I'm practising all the time, trying these new ones," he said. "There's obviously the knuckle ball, and there's other slower balls that are coming out.
"In games at the moment, I'm just using the two. But there'll be a couple more interesting ones coming out for the season - a work in progress."
Curran's development as a captain's pick when the margins are tightest began at Surrey alongside former England seamer Jade Dernbach - a noted exponent of the art.
"I think you've just got to try things," he added. "A couple of years ago I just started practising different types of slower balls from the back of the hand, and they seemed to work.
"A combination of that and the off-cutter seems to be coming off."
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It did in Wellington last weekend when, alongside Chris Woakes who defended 15 off the final over, Curran answered Morgan's call.
His last four overs cost 31 to keep the Kiwis in check as, despite Kane Williamson's brilliant century, they finished four runs short.
Morgan might have gone to Mark Wood or Ben Stokes to partner Woakes, but chose Curran.
"Getting over the line with the win was very satisfying," he said. "I've done it a lot of times in training and I've had time to implement it in games at Surrey and a few games for England, so it's just about going out there and backing myself.
"When it comes off because of the hours you put in practising, it's very satisfying."
He is hoping, even with others such as Liam Plunkett vying for places once fit again, it all leads to a home World Cup in 2019.
"That's exciting - it's a great place to be in," Curran said. "It's about me putting my hand up and performing when I do get given a chance.
"It's 15 months away, so I'll finish this tour, go back, do my thing for Surrey and hope to give Morgs a tough selection problem."
Meanwhile, England have announced that batsman Liam Livingstone has recovered sufficiently from his ankle injury to travel to New Zealand this week for his first Test tour.
The two-match series begins in Auckland on March 22.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
