Surrey bowler Tom Curran added to England ODI squad

Curran was understandably unable to get back to sleep after waking up and choosing to check his mobile-phone updates at around 4.30am in Dambulla on Tuesday - only hours after finishing the last of his 29 overs in the match as England Lions lost narrowly over four days to Sri Lanka A.

One message caught his eye, from national selector James Whitaker inviting him to report to the Caribbean forthwith as cover for the injured Jake Ball.

The 21-year-old Cape Town-born seamer's name was one of several already being suggested a couple of continents away - his teenage brother Sam's was another - when England announced Ball was to have a scan on his knee after limping out of the attack mid-over in the two-wicket win over the WICB President's XI in St Kitts the previous day.

It was the elder Curran who was preferred, unsurprisingly perhaps on the back of his 10 wickets at an average of just under 19 in the two unofficial Tests in Sri Lanka this month and the ability he has demonstrated with the white ball in recent years for both Surrey and the Lions.

Curran was nonetheless taken aback by his early-morning message, preface to a near 10,000-mile trip west across 10 time zones to be in situ by Thursday - the eve of the first of England's three one-day internationals against West Indies in Antigua.

"It's happened as quick as a text," he told Cricinfo."I wasn't expecting it straight after the four-dayers. It's all pretty surreal right now. But I'm giddy, I can't wait to get out there."

Curran was restless in the small hours, after his exertions for the Lions in their drawn series - but even when he saw he had a message from Whitaker, he did not instantly make the connection.

He added: "I woke up about half past four and saw I had a message from James Whitaker on my phone.

"I thought I'd give it a quick read, and he'd be saying well done on the series - and I wasn't thinking very clearly at that time in the morning.

"But then I saw the words 'West Indies' and I was awake then, to say the least. I read it a few times, couldn't quite come to grips with it, trying to pinch myself to wake up.

"Put it this way, I couldn't get back to sleep. So thanks again for the message, James!"

There was only one person Curran wanted to share the news with first - brother Sam, on Lions duty with him.

He said: "I waited until 7, and he wasn't very pleased to be woken up - it's our first day off. But he understood when I told him, and he was as excited as me."

Curran's long-haul flight is reminiscent of the one Alastair Cook undertook 11 years ago in the opposite direction.

After being summoned from an A tour in the Caribbean as an emergency replacement on England's Test tour in India, Cook responded with a second-innings century on debut in Nagpur which started his journey to becoming England's captain and record run-scorer.

England expect to discover the full extent of Ball's injury following scans on Tuesday - although it seems highly likely his participation in the remainder of such a brief tour must be in doubt.

Curran's arrival in Antigua will follow that of opener Alex Hales, who was cleared after scans on Monday to join his team-mates - not yet as a fully-fledged member of the squad, but to continue the latter stages of his rehabilitation after breaking his hand in India last month. 

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace said of Hales: "He is very unlikely to play in the first game.

"I don't think he will figure in Antigua - he has a chance, if at all, (for the final match) in Barbados but he will have to work a lot to prove he is 100 per cent fit. There's no point in rushing him."

In Hales' anticipated absence, Sam Billings appears most likely to face the new ball alongside Jason Roy on Friday.

The Kent opener failed to make significant runs in either warm-up match in St Kitts, while Jonny Bairstow top-scored with 86 as England made hard work of chasing 233 all out on Monday.

Farbrace said: "Jonny showed that he is a very capable player, has a great technique, and there's no reason why he couldn't open but there are very good options.

"He'll be disappointed not to have won the game (himself). When you get 80-odd, you ought to be there at the end and finish it off so I would hope he would be disappointed."