Across every major event in Carse’s professional career, there has been one recurring presence – Stokes
Vithushan Ehantharajah01-Dec-2024There was a point on Saturday afternoon, as Brydon Carse was walking back to the top of his mark, that he turned to his captain. The fields were fine and the plans clear, but Carse had noticed something he wanted to relay.The grass banks were throbbing with anticipation, the air filled with that loud hum you get when a bowler is in the midst of a Test-tilting spell. This one in particular aimed at New Zealand’s middle order. “This is pretty cool,” said Carse – the man responsible – without breaking stride.”Just lap it all up and take it in,” replied Ben Stokes, “because this pretty special.”Related
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About 24 hours later, both Carse – player of the match gong in his possession – and Stokes were sat on the outfield of a now empty Hagley Oval, quiet but for idle conversation and the noise of team-mates kicking around a football. Beers in hand, smiles on the go. This, too, was something to lap up.England had beaten New Zealand – for just the second time in 11 matches on their patch – and Carse had driven it with a match-wide 10 for 106 of historical and cultural significance. All under the guidance of a close friend.An England bowler has not taken a ten-for overseas in the last 12 years before Carse took four in the first innings and added six in the second, with the final three arriving on the final day. You have to go even further back – to Ryan Sidebottom in Hamilton in 2008 – for the last time a seamer did so.Neither James Anderson nor Stuart Broad could manage it, and they played 151 away Tests between them. Carse has done it in just three attempts.
“He’s turned out to be the cricketer I always thought he could be.”Ben Stokes on Brydon Carse
His first three, by the way, which is part coincidence and circumstance. It has not been a straightforward journey.”Timing is obviously everything,” Carse said, reflecting on this first crack of Test cricket in which he currently boasts 19 wickets at an average of 17.10. “I’ve had my fair share of bad luck with certain things. I don’t want to say I knew this day would come, but I was always ambitious to think I can play cricket and I can play at that level. I’m just very proud of today’s performance.”The principle of time is an important one as far as Carse’s story goes. Because across every major event in his professional career, there has been one recurring presence – Stokes. Guardian angel might be lacing that with too much narrative. But Carse’s Test captain was also his first international captain, when a debut sprung out of the blue in 2021. Covid forced a complete squad change for a home ODI series against Pakistan. Stokes, who was recovering from a broken finger, was drafted in to run the ringers.A two-year central contract in 2023 came on merit, but it helped that Stokes had been tipping Carse as one to watch, particularly for Test cricket despite a modest first-class record for Durham, with an average of 33.25 from 44 domestic matches. Ironically, it was Stokes’ delay in returning from a hamstring tear that handed Carse his debut in the first Test of the Pakistan tour. Stokes had the honour of bestowing Carse with cap No. 717. Nine impressive wickets on tough decks underlined the qualities that had not been made clear on the county circuit.
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The pair first met at Durham, when Carse swapped South Africa for the North East for good in 2016. And though Carse battled injuries during the following three-year period in which he was completing his residency qualifications, Stokes recognised the talent brewing. He also saw a lot of himself.Working with a blank canvas following the retirements of Broad, then Anderson, the chance to lift the average speed of the pace attack and furnish it with different weapons brought Carse to the fore, particularly with next winter’s Ashes coming into view. Those plans were put on hold when he was handed a three-month ban in the summer after the Cricket Regulator found him guilty of placing a series of bets on matches between 2017 and 2019.It was during this period the bond between Carse and Stokes grew even stronger. The pair would chat regularly, sometimes over the phone, sometimes over rounds of golf – always with the intention of focusing on the other side of this enforced hiatus. Stokes expressed how important it was for Carse to own his mistakes, while amplifying the light at the end of the tunnel. “I cannot thank him enough,” Carse said of this unwavering support.Stokes involving himself with Carse’s situation was as much about looking after a mate as being unfortunately well-versed in what he was going through. From the Bristol incident in 2017, the court case the following year and the indefinite leave on mental health grounds in 2021, he knows what it feels like to be in the midst of issues that put cricket, and life, on hold.”When those kind of things are coming from someone who knows what it’s like to go through certain stuff, it means a bit more when someone is listening,” Stokes said. “He knows how much value I have in him as a player. I guess it might make him run a little bit harder every now and again when it’s me asking him to bowl an extra over.”Brydon Carse soaks in the applause for his 10-wicket match haul•Joe Allison/Getty ImagesThat was abundantly clear over the last week, particularly given how many interjections Carse was able to make when conditions had seemingly quietened down. Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway were surprised by bounce that belied the lengths they were comfortable enough with on Saturday. In the space of five deliveries on Sunday, Nathan Smith and Matt Henry were sent back leg before with skid and nip, just as it looked like New Zealand were dragging themselves to a meaningful lead under bright blue skies.”I’ve known Ben for 10 years and we have a good relationship,” Carse said. “To have him captain me and be there is a massive factor – he knows my cricket inside out. It’s a very calming influence on me, letting me be myself and play my natural game.”It is important not to focus entirely on the visceral nature of Carse’s story, even if the way he plays lends itself to primal imagery, along with Stokes saying things like, “the kid has got the heart of a lion”.Work has been put in to hone the craft, allied with a self-awareness that younger days were spent trying to push the speed gun into the red. It did not help that English pitches gave medium-paced nibblers the edge over him, which contributed to intermittent County Championship appearances. Since his last first-class five wicket haul – 5 for 49 against Warwickshire in 2021 – Carse has played just 22 first-class matches.”I probably got caught up in trying to bowl too quick at times and probably not having played a lot of cricket in a block of time – often playing a couple of games and potentially getting injured or rested.”I did a lot of work over the last three or four months with Graham Onions back at Durham on a few technical things and a few things regarding my length that I want to bowl.”Brydon Carse claimed his maiden five-wicket haul•Phil Walter/Getty ImagesThe results are clear to see; valued with new and old ball, utilised in an array of in-game situations. All while maintaining a level of control that, well, he has not really had before; an economy rate of 2.77 across all his 38.1 overs rank as his third-most economical of 51 red-ball games. One behind his debut effort of 2.72 from 29 overs in Multan.”To have a bowler in your attack who can almost be three bowlers in one is massive,” Stokes said. “I use him as the enforcer when we go to the short stuff. He’s taken a lot of wickets this week as well, but his economy rate’s been below three. So that says a lot about him as a bowler that he can fit in with whatever you need.”It is hard to avoid the sense that Stokes views Carse as a younger brother. Particularly when he recalls what he made of the man four years his junior when they first crossed paths.”He was very raw when he first came to Durham but he had natural ability. He could bowl fast but one ball could be 90mph, the next could be 82mph. He would keep bowling even if his toe was ripped off. He wouldn’t show any pain, he’d just keep going and going.”It’s a heartening, older sibling mix of affection, concern and, ultimately, pride. “He’s turned out to be the cricketer I always thought he could be.”Perhaps it was experiencing this all in Christchurch that brought that familial love out of Stokes. His birthplace remains a haven for family. Across the four days of this Test, mother Deb and brother James – who both live in the city – have been notable presences on the periphery.For Carse, “home” is carried around with him in the form of a tattoo on his left tricep. It bears the coordinates 33° 57′ 29.2”S and 25° 36′ 00.0”E – the area of Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) where he grew up.A reminder of the beginnings of a nomadic journey that is starting to settle. And while he might not have had family here to witness a landmark moment in his career, it probably felt like he did with Ben by his side throughout.