Brydon Carse has thanked the England cricket team management for trusting him, after he came back to international cricket following a three-month ban for gambling.
Earlier this year, Carse was banned for 16 months, but 13 months of that were suspended, after it was found out that he had placed over 300 bets on cricket matches from 2017 to 2019. There was no claim that he was involved in match-fixing, but the bets, which included games Durham played in but he wasn’t part of, broke the rules.
Before the ban, Carse was close to becoming a regular player for England and was one of the 15 cricketers awarded a two-year central contract. His quick return to the England team shows the faith they have in the 29-year-old fast bowler.
“The team has been really supportive over the past few months,” Carse said. “It’s been great to be back playing. The last few weeks have been very good for me. First, I returned to Durham, and now I’ve joined the England team again. Everyone has backed me fully, and I’m excited to play as much cricket for England as possible in the future.”
“Rob Key [the managing director of England men’s cricket] has been in touch with me a lot, and the entire support team has given me everything I needed to get back to playing.”
England’s management team is a big fan of Carse. Even though his domestic cricket stats are not the best, they believe he has key qualities that could help him succeed at the international level. Carse was recently called up for his first-ever Test series for the tour of Pakistan, along with being part of both the one-day and T20 teams.
“I’ve been making sure to bowl enough during training to stay ready,” Carse said, talking about his preparations for the upcoming Test tour. “But right now, my focus is fully on white-ball cricket. I’ll adjust to Test cricket when I get to Pakistan on October 2.”
“England is changing how they play Test cricket. They are starting to use bowlers who can bowl with extra speed. So, if you’re asking what my role will be in Pakistan, it’ll be to bowl short, fast spells and try to get the ball to reverse swing.”
Carse’s role in the England cricket team has sparked a lot of discussion during his short international career, with many comparing him to Liam Plunkett, a former Durham player and a key middle-overs bowler in white-ball cricket.
“I only hear about that comparison in the media,” Carse said. “The coaches or my teammates don’t talk to me about it. It’s not something I really think about.”
Since making his debut in 2021, Carse has played 16 ODIs for England but hasn’t yet bowled with the new ball, always coming in as the first-change bowler. While his role on the team has remained clear, he has played under five different captains: Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, and Harry Brook.
“I’m not ruling out bowling during the powerplay,” Carse added. “I’ve had some good spells during the powerplay in these 50-over games so far. My main job is to take wickets for the team, and while I was a bit more expensive than I’d have liked on Saturday, that’s still my goal.”
During the recent match at Headingley, Carse took the wicket of Travis Head, followed by Aaron Hardie and Mitchell Starc in consecutive deliveries, leaving Australia at 216 for 8. Even though he took key wickets, Carse’s ten overs were costly, giving away 75 runs. However, he improved in his final four overs, conceding just 12 runs, which helped him recover from a rough start where his figures read 6-0-63-1.
“I struggled with my rhythm in the first spell,” he said. “But coming back to take those two important wickets at a crucial time really helped. There were both positives and negatives, but I kept pushing through.”
Carse also commented on the structure of English cricket, noting that many of the players haven’t played much 50-over cricket due to the focus on the Hundred.
“Some players in the squad have strong T20 careers, while others are still learning. It’s all about adapting to different situations, and we didn’t do that well in the first two games. But we still have three games left to turn things around quickly.”
