Harry Brook Supports Brydon Carse's Time Away from England
Harry Brook believes his close friend Brydon Carse needs time away from the international spotlight, even as England’s white-ball machine rolls on towards another World Cup cycle.
Carse, the Durham fast bowler, was arrested and then de-arrested during a night out in Derby in August. Derbyshire Police have since closed their investigation into an alleged assault with no further action taken, but the 31-year-old now faces a separate inquiry by the Cricket Regulator. Technically, he is available for England selection. Practically, he has not been picked in any format since that night.
Brook, who captains England’s white-ball side and shares both a dressing room history and an agent with Carse, did not dodge the subject before Tuesday’s first ODI against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street.
“I’m very good mates with Carsey,” he told BBC Sport. “I’ve spoken a lot with him. I think he just needs time away from the international scene. He’s working on a few things behind the scenes and hopefully he’ll be ready at some point in the future.”
Those words carry some weight. Brook knows what it is to be caught in an unwanted headline. In October last year, on the eve of an ODI in Wellington against New Zealand, he was punched by a nightclub bouncer. He came through that episode and says he can now help Carse navigate his own.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has already signalled that Carse will “take time” to “work through the issues that led to the Derby incident”. White-ball head coach Brendon McCullum has been even blunter: Carse must “get his house in order” before pulling on an England shirt again. New Test coach Stephen Fleming has also spoken publicly in recent days about the “standards” expected of England players.
So the door is not closed, but it is guarded.
“He’s a very good cricketer, we all know that,” Brook said. “He’s been bowling extremely well for Durham. When his time for selection is up, that will be a debate.”
For now, the debate is about who does play, not who doesn’t.
Adil Rashid will miss the opening ODI against Sri Lanka with a hand injury, stripping England of their senior leg-spinner for the start of this three-match series. With Jacob Bethell already sidelined after knee surgery, Tom Banton will be pushed up to open the batting.
England come into the 50-over leg with a swagger earned in the shortest format. They dismantled Sri Lanka 3-0 in a one-sided T20 series last week and have won 23 of their past 26 completed T20 internationals. This is a white-ball side that, in that format at least, feels almost automatic.
But the horizon has changed. The next global prize is not a T20 trophy; it is the 50-over World Cup in southern Africa in October and November 2027. Planning starts now.
“Naturally it does, with the World Cup being next year,” Brook said of the shift towards ODI cricket. “That’s not saying we’re taking anything away from T20 cricket at all, because we’re absolutely flying in that format at the minute.
“With the World Cup being just around the corner, and now we’ve solidified qualification, we can really start to home in on what the squad and XI is.”
There is another fresh ingredient in the mix. Tuesday’s game will be England’s first ODI since Kevin Pietersen joined the backroom staff. The former England star has been hired as a mentor for the build-up to the World Cup, and wasted no time making his presence felt. On Monday he opened England’s training with a session dedicated to playing spin, an area that has so often defined knockout cricket in global tournaments.
From here, the schedule barely lets up. Brook’s side are locked into white-ball cricket until December’s Test tour of South Africa, Fleming’s first assignment in charge of the red-ball team.
After this Sri Lanka series wraps up on Sunday, England head to Pakistan in October for a one-day tri-series also involving the Sri Lankans. November brings three ODIs and five T20s in Australia against their Ashes rivals, a demanding block that ends only a week before England’s solitary warm-up fixture in South Africa.
That squeeze will force some hard calls. With such a tight turnaround, several multi-format fast bowlers are expected to be rested for the T20s in Australia, which could hand a breather to Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and possibly Sonny Baker.
The squads for Pakistan and Australia are due next week, alongside a new batch of central contracts. The touring party for South Africa, and Fleming’s first crack at shaping his Test dressing room, will be named in October.
Change is not confined to the senior side. Jonathan Trott has been appointed England Lions head coach for their winter tours of West Indies, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The former England batter, who ended a four-year stint in charge of Afghanistan in February, was a serious contender for the full Test job before Fleming’s arrival in July. He now replaces Andrew Flintoff, who stepped down in August.
So England move on with new coaches, a new mentor, and a captain ready to back a friend from a distance. Carse, for now, works in the shadows. The question is simple and stark: by the time that 2027 World Cup arrives, will he have done enough to step back into the light?
