I really like the look of Carse and he is another cricketer England have capped this year, after Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson, who you can see being around for a while in all formats. He bowled with good pace and bounce, defying the surface, and he hit batsmen on the body and head, which is a good sign with the Ashes looming. They clearly want pace, but they also want three-dimensional players who can bat and field, which he clearly can. There are a few more coming through the ranks, and they will have a look at Kasey Aldridge and Harry Moore on the Lions tour next month. They are big, tall, athletic bowlers who can bat and field. What’s not to like?
Carse is another big tick in the selection box in a year when England have got a lot right. The great testament to the changes England have made to their attack this year is that really there have not been many days since the start of the summer where everyone has said “this is crying out for James Anderson or Stuart Broad”. There are bigger challenges to come, but the new guys have hit the ground running.
The one selection point I was not sure about at the start of the summer was opting for Shoaib Bashir over Leach as the front-line spinner. I can see Bashir’s potential, but Leach outbowled him in Multan, and had a very good season for Somerset. I am a bit old school with spin bowling. Your finger spinner just needs to bowl, bowl, bowl. That is the way to learn, get used to conditions, make subtle variations to your release point, and angle of attack. Bashir just has not bowled that much this summer. Whether Bashir plays every Test before Christmas or not, I would send him on the Lions tour to Australia in January to ensure he keeps bowling.
One thing that seriously impressed me about this England performance was the way they blocked out the noise. Having lost to Sri Lanka, there was quite a lot of chatter early in this Test about Anderson playing golf in Scotland and whether they had enough cover for various absentees in the squad. But they just erased the negativity, which is one of their great strengths. They stayed in the bubble, because they do not really care what outsiders say. I think in my era that noise would have affected the team, and we would have felt pressure to win. This team are unbothered by it.
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