INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
After recovering from a toe injury, Brydon Carse is raring to go © Getty
Brydon Carse has risen to the challenges of Test cricket incredibly well, in his relatively short career in the format. With only five Test appearances so far, the fast bowler has already picked up 27 wickets and was arguably England’s best bowler on the tour of Pakistan last year. After recovering from a toe injury, he suffered back in February, the 29-year-old is raring to go.
“Yeah, very excited. You know, the last couple of days, the Test squad joining up. We’ve had a couple of good days of training already, and obviously something to look forward to come Friday,” Carse said.
Carse hoped that he would be able to adapt to the situation during the Test series, and didn’t want to label himself as a new-ball or first-change bowler, but admitted conditions would play a part in what the team asked of him.
“I can be quite adaptable, hopefully,” Carse said, as he also spoke about the need to be more versatile as a fast bowler. “I think when you look at the group of bowlers, there’ll be guys to come in throughout the series. So, yeah, being adaptable and being flexible, you know, around my certain role in the team is something that I know is probably going to happen and I’m pretty accepting of that.”
England begin an important period in the longer format of the game come Friday. They face India for five Test matches and then head Down Under for an Ashes series against Australia. Carse spoke about goals the team set out when the squad linked up for the Zimbabwe Test last month and labelled that England would like to become more dominant in the format.
“For England, this is the start of a very important period, five Tests against India, then the Ashes Down Under. We outlined some plans and goals that we want to achieve, through the year…When Stokes and Baz took over the Test side, a couple of years ago, they obviously had a certain style of cricket that they wanted to play. And I think looking back over the last two years, what the Test side has done, you can never take away that they’ve played some entertaining cricket and won a lot of good games. So, maybe just trying to take a good team into becoming a dominant team.
“And, you know, what an opportunity to start against one of the best sides in the world in India. And [these are] 10 Test matches that this group is really looking forward to.”
The onset of Bazball has seen a rising number of flatter tracks in England which have offered a lesser amount of assistance to the bowlers. But Carse felt it provided a much more even contest between bat and ball.
“The wickets as well as the challenge for the fast bowlers because of Bazball, the pitches in England also have changed a bit. It isn’t, you know, swinging and seaming as it used to be about, say, five years ago. I think the wickets in England have over the last couple of years been good Test wickets. I feel like in England if a batter gets in, you’ll be able to score runs freely. But at the same time, you feel like you’re always in the game as a bowler if you have good rhythm and you’re bowling well as a unit.”
Coming back from an injury which had also rendered him out of the IPL, Carse spoke about workload management and emphasised that it would be vital for each player to be 100% fit, heading into a Test match.
“That’s something we will continue to assess [on workload management] after each game. But, from everyone’s point of view and from my own personal point of view, whether you play one, two, three Tests in a row or, maybe all five, you’re making sure that your body’s 100 percent going into each game, and just taking it each game as it comes.”
Meanwhile, England have announced their playing XI for the first Test at Headingley, Leeds. The XI constitutes four seamers including captain Ben Stokes and the lone spinner in Shoaib Bashir.
Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
© Cricbuzz
