Durham Cricket fast bowler Brydon Carse reflects on a successful winter for England Lions – having made his debut last month.
Carse starred with bat and ball in all formats for Durham last season which saw him selected for the Lions tour to Australia, featuring in both red and white ball formats.
Carse said: “My time in Australia was one of the better cricket tours I have been a part of, it was a very busy seven weeks of cricket, playing in different conditions against some decent opposition.”
His debut came against a Cricket Australia XI, claiming his first wicket when he dismissed dangerman Max Bryant for 102 from 60 balls. Carse claiming figures of 1/35 and forcing a run out.
“I remember they got off to an absolute flyer, they had about 120 on the board inside 15 overs – none down. We had just taken drinks and I came on to bowl, myself and the skipper decided to stick to a plan and luckily it paid off. With a change of pace, I removed their key batter. It was obviously a special moment to get my first wicket, it’s always a relief no matter what level you are playing at.”
While representing England Lions, Carse also contributed with the bat, his last innings sharing an unbeaten stand of 83 with Sam Northeast, as he finished not out on 44.
Carse added: “I take a lot of pride in my batting and enjoy it a lot, I have been working on a few things this winter so to be able to contribute in the one-day and four-day stuff with some vital knocks was great. I am always looking to push myself up the order.
“The coaches were brilliant, to be able to work with different people from different counties was great. I personally worked well with Jason Kerr, I felt that over the seven weeks he learnt a lot about me as a bowler and I had gathered some great tips to work on.
“I hit a lot of balls with Jonathan Trott and it’s always nice to learn from one of England’s great batsmen. The team environment lead by Head Coach Richard Dawson was great, the guys really responded well to him, personally it was great talking cricket with him and learning from him while we were away.”
The side went unbeaten in both white and red ball formats, something which Carse said the side discussed prior to both series starting.
“We spoke about learning how to win in Australia before we left as a whole group. We knew it was going to be a challenge but to walk away from a long tour like that unbeaten was a special achievement.
“Going into the environment not knowing many of the players was always going to be slightly difficult but the group of the lads were brilliant. We had such a great environment while training and playing.
“The boys played hard cricket but away from the game the group as a collective got on very well and enjoyed each other’s company. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the environment and hopefully with a lot of hard work and some big performances for Durham that’s just a taste for better things to come.”