Brydon Carse has revealed how the thought of a Test debut helped him through his three-month ban for gambling offences.
Carse was the best bowler on show as England pulled off a remarkable innings victory in the first Test at Multan, averaging 85mph in the merciless heat and peppering Pakistan’s batsmen with bouncers on a surface apparently designed to break bowlers’ hearts.
It was a performance that must have seemed a long way away while he sat on the sidelines between May 13th and August 29th, unable to take the field for Durham or England after the ‘stupid mistake’ of placing more than 300 bets on televised games of cricket between 2017 and 2019 – a clear breach of the ECB’s anti-corruption code.
And while he had already played white-ball games for England, it was the prospect of Test cricket that kept spirits up.
‘Yeah, definitely,’ he said. ‘The group of players that we are playing with, I’ve got some close relationships up there. I just thoroughly enjoyed the occasion.
Brydon Carse has revealed the thought of a Test debut helped him through his three-month ban for gambling offences
Carse was the best bowler on show as England overcame Pakistan in the first Test
‘I had some time off to work on a few things, and improve my fitness in certain areas. I’ve come back refreshed and just wanting to do well and play as much as I can for England.’
The 29-year-old Carse said he was boosted last week by two text messages from his Durham colleague Mark Wood, who is currently nursing an elbow injury after a high-speed summer, and was one of the heroes of England’s previous Test at Multan in December 2022, taking four second-innings wickets to seal a tense 26-run win.
‘He sent me a message the night before the game wishing me luck, and he sent me another after we fielded in the first innings, reassuring me,’ said Carse.
‘He was the third person to say that it was as hard as it’s going to get from a conditions point of view – just filling me with a bit of confidence.’
Carse can now look forward to an Ashes tour next winter, when England hope he will form part of a pace battery that could also include Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue. Olly Stone, who got married in Norfolk yesterday and will not return to Pakistan in time to take part in Tuesday’s second Test, is also in the mix.
And Carse, who also found reverse-swing on the fourth evening, bowling Mohammad Rizwan for 10 as Pakistan’s second innings disintegrated, received the thumbs up from England’s bowling coach.
‘I just really like him,’ Jimmy Anderson told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast. ‘He bowls quick, he can move the ball. He has that action where he pauses in that delivery stride and really snaps at the crease, so it makes him feel even quicker to the batters when they are facing it. That’s exciting.’
Anderson’s diagnosis came after Carse repeatedly struck the Pakistanis after Ollie Pope used him as England’s battering-ram. Even in temperatures that touched 37 degrees, 42% of his deliveries were bouncers.
Jimmy Anderson praised Carse, describing the way in which he bowls as ‘exciting’
Carse admitted he relished trying to put the Pakistan batters under as much pressure as possible
‘I got better throughout the one-day series against Australia, and I just try and hammer the wicket as hard as I can and be consistently straight,’ he said.
Did he enjoy leaving a physical impression on his opponents? ‘Of course. With a bit of variable bounce that’s going to happen sometimes. I was just trying to put the batters under pressure as much as I can.
‘It was a special five days. It was hard graft, and difficult at times today, but it was very rewarding to come away with a win.’
England will settle on their team for the second Test after Ben Stokes puts himself through what is expected to be a rigorous training session on Saturday in a bid to return to the side after missing the last four matches with a hamstring injury.
Ideally, he would play as an all-rounder, probably in place of Chris Woakes. But England have not ruled out the possibility that he plays as a specialist batsman, even though that would weaken the attack in conditions where they will need as many bowling options as possible.
As one team source put it: ‘It’s a big day for Ben. It will be an intense session.’
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