One of many Irish cricketers that were born and raised in South Africa, Curtis Campher has quickly established himself as a vital seam-bowling all-rounder for Ireland across formats. Born in Johannesburg, Campher rallied his way through South Africa’s age group cricket. Representing Gauteng at the U-13, U-15 and U-17 level, Campher impressed enough to find himself in South Africa’s U-19 team by 2018. It was only a chance encounter with Niall O’Brien during a 2019 World Cup Qualifiers warm-up game that paved the way for Campher representing Ireland. Possessing an Irish passport through his grandmother, a chat with O’Brien and a desire to bat higher up the order was enough to convince the then 19-year old Campher to go back to his roots and represent Ireland.

After a couple of tours with the Ireland Wolves, Campher was drafted straight into Ireland’s national setup. During the pandemic, he was among the 21 selected to travel to England and begin training behind closed doors. His ODI debut came in that series against England in July 2020 and despite his side losing that game by 6 wickets, Campher was Ireland’s top scorer with an unbeaten 59. His T20I debut came just over a year later in August 2021 against Zimbabwe and just three months later, in a game against the Netherlands in the 2021 T20 World Cup, Campher made history by picking up a hat-trick. He became the first Irishman to take a T20I hat-trick and also the third, after Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan, to take four wickets in four balls.

Batting in the top 6 and hardworking seam bowler, Campher had established himself as an invaluable all-rounder for Ireland. Cut to April 2023 and Campher had made his Test debut in an away series against Bangladesh. Continuing their tour of the subcontinent, Ireland toured Sri Lanka next and in the 2nd Test at Galle, Campher scored his maiden Test hundred in the form of a gritty 111 in the 1st innings.

Written by Anurag Hegde