Brydon Carse talks about England’s adaptability and cites the Lords’ test victory as evidence for the same.
Brydon Carse: Attritional Lord’s win proves this England team can adapt.
According to Brydon Carse, England’s attritional strategy for winning the Lord’s Test last week demonstrated the team’s willingness to modify its well-known free-flowing style in order to win against Australia and India this year.
In England’s unusually slow first innings of 387, which came at a run rate of 3.44 across 112.3 overs, Carse played a crucial half-century. In India’s two innings, he then collected 3 for 118, including a crucial two-wicket burst late on the fourth evening when he expertly used the Lord’s slope to trap Shubman Gill and Karun Nair leg before wicket from the Pavilion End.
“The atmosphere was incredible, the adrenaline was flowing,” Carse told. “It was an incredibly crucial stage of the game that I was desperate to make an impact in, and I felt in good rhythm bowling that evening.
“To be able to pick up a couple of wickets in that spell and put the momentum back into our hands going into day five was incredibly satisfying. At times, over the course of the series so far, I feel like I’ve been bowling well and maybe haven’t had as much luck as I would have liked, but that was certainly satisfying for me.
“It was not the typical style of cricket that we would like to play, and it took some adjustment, but it shows this side can move forward and adapt to certain situations.
“We spoke a lot at the start of the series about how to get to that next level, about being a dominant Test team and the best Test team in the world. And as this game panned out, we showed that it’s not always going to be one-minded or a certain style of cricket. So, it was very satisfying as a group.”
Ultimately, though, Carse acknowledged that his primary feeling was “relief” when Shoaib Bashir overcame the agony of a broken finger to take Mohammad Siraj’s final wicket with India only 22 runs behind following an incredible rearguard led by Ravindra Jadeja.
“You wanted to fall to your knees, almost,” Carse added, speaking in his new role as an ambassador for Step One underwear. “It was unbelievable, after all the hard work that the group put in over those five days. It was the best game that I’ve been involved in with England. And, from speaking to the guys who’ve played a lot of franchise cricket and Tests, like Harry Brook, who I get on really well with, he was saying that’s his best Test win. So to hear that among the group, and to share those thoughts after the game, was a special feeling.
“Once we got off that field and walked through the Long Room, it was an incredible atmosphere … really loud. A couple of the guys who had played in the Ashes said that’s the loudest they’ve ever heard the Long Room. It was a pretty special week.”