|| CF CORRESPONDET ||

Curtis Campher was born and raised in South Africa and he even played for the Proteas in the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. However, currently, he identifies himself as an Irish cricketer. Due to having an Irish passport through family connections, Campher started playing domestic cricket in Ireland. Eventually, he became part of the national team. Despite not being able to rise to prominence in South African cricket, Campher has emerged as a star in Ireland.

Campher, who regularly plays for the national team, participated in the Chattogram Challengers in the previous year's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Once again, he is playing in the franchise tournament in Bangladesh, representing Chattogram again in the current edition.

During the ongoing BPL Campher shared his BPL experience with other aspects in an exclusive interview with Cricfrenzy.

The excerpts of the interview are given below:

Cricfrenzy: This is your second time in BPL, tell us about the experience.

Campher: It's nice to be back, to be honest. It's really cool to be back in Bangladesh. It's been my third or fourth time here, so it's been really cool. First time, there's a lot of learning and just kind of experiencing the culture, the cricket and how the BPL is. And hopefully the second time around I can put in a few more good performances and we've started really nicely, so it's nice to be back here. Second time, almost like a home away from home. So, yeah, it's really nice to be here.

CF: How is the cultural setup in BPL?

Campher: Yeah, I think, obviously, the fans love the cricket show and it's amazing to be in front of packed houses. Last time, my first game was in Sylhet and it was a packed house and then my first game in Dhaka started. The atmosphere is always cool, a lot of support and a lot of love for good cricket. So, yeah, the culture has been really good. The mindset of the team this year has been really good. We've hit the ground running and we've started really nicely.

CF: Many of the Irish players are here for the BPL. Harry Tector, you. Is there any other chance that other Irish players will come to the BPL? And are you seeing the development of Irish cricket by going through this process of franchise cricket?

Campher: Yeah, definitely. It's a nice connection we can make between the franchises. Sometimes we feel a little bit of pressure because we come from a smaller nation to make sure that we do well. So it kind of elaborates and shows the depth of cricket. We have a guy like Mark Adair who's in the T20 World eleven. He's a really good bowler, so hopefully he can get a chance in one of the leagues, too. But, yeah, it's really nice to see guys around the world. We have four or five guys, even six maybe, now playing the franchise circuit right now. So that just shows. And the more we can go out and kind of get tested in different conditions and learn and develop is really good for us. To have six out of the eleven playing in the T20 comps prior to the World Cup is always good for our development.

CF: You mentioned Ireland as a smaller country. So how the Ireland Cricket board is preparing to make the country bigger in cricket?

Campher: It's really tricky. I think obviously these developmental roles kind of things and us being able to head abroad and play franchise circus is really big for us. And they're pushing us to do that because the more guys we can have outplaying cricket, the better we know. We have a full Wolves series all year coming up now. We came here in 2021 maybe, and I was a part of that trip and that was really big to come here and experience these things in an A team environment and to play against some quality oppositions, always great. So I think they're trying to push more Wolves cricket and more red ball cricket, which will only be better for us.

CF: Your mate Joshua Little got into himself in the IPL. You and Harry are on the board. Do you feel Irish players will get more chances on the IPL in near future?

Campher: I think the big thing about Ireland is kind of our willingness to serve our country. Knowing these kinds of gigs are kind of developmental roles for us to kind of grow our games and experience different structures to make sure that we can hone our skills in for the national side. So I think if that comes along, that'll be really good. I think we are showing now that we can perform against the best and hopefully coming June in the World cup against India, we can kind of put one over them.

CF: You have played in BPL wickets, and you have played in other parts of the world, so what’s the difference between Bangladesh and other counties’ wickets?  

Campher: I think obviously it's different in every different locations you go to. If you're in Dhaka, it's going to be tough to score and under lights it gets a lot of a better with the due. I know Sylhet has a better batting track. So I think whenever you go, you can cash in as a batter and as a bowler. I think, you know, it's nice to kind of go to different places around the country and learn and have different things. Similar to Dhaka, similar to Ireland in a way that the ball seams around a little bit and it's quite tough to score for the seamers, but it's really cool to experience these different conditions.

CF: What’s your BPL goal this year?

Camher: I think that's got to be the goal. Every competition you come into, everyone starts in the same slate. So I think we've started really nicely. We've got some exciting new signings coming in in the next few days so hopefully they can hit the ground running. Two out of three is pretty good so far. Hopefully we can go from this block two, two from three, and then all of a sudden we're close enough to touching distance from the playoffs and then a few good performances there and then you're in the final.

CF: Who is your closest friend in Bangladesh?

Campher: Really have good friendship with Afif Hossain, obviously you have the role models like Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim, who are really nice and really pleasant and always welcoming when you come. But yeah, I got along really well with the team last year.

CF: You are a huge fan of Jack Kallis. Did he bought you to cricket?

Campher: I think he probably just when I was growing up, he was my idol, watching him bat and bowl. So I got to meet him last year in the SA20. That was a really cool experience. It's nice to kind of meet a role model.

CF: Before coming to cricket, did you play any sports or you were into cricket from very early age?

Campher: Yeah. So obviously I grew up in South Africa and there you play all the sports. So when I was younger I got exposed to all the sports, but my first passion was hockey. I loved hockey and, yeah, so when I was about 16, I got selected to play in the national side in both sports and had to make a decision there and thankfully I chose cricket and it's gone all right so far.

CF: Your parents live in South Africa, your grandmother was an Irish. If you get an opportunity to play for South Africa, would you leave Ireland and go to South Africa?

Campher: No, I don't think so. Not at all. I think Ireland's my home now. I'd love to go back and play in the domestic comps in South Africa. I think that's always kind of a big dream of mine, to play professional cricket in South Africa, no doubt. And hopefully, we can have a tour to South Africa soon enough to play back in South Africa, my birthplace. But no, I wouldn't give it up to play for South Africa. I love Ireland.