Brydon Carse’s 10-wicket haul at Christchurch, in his third Test, came as no surprise to John Windows, who has known him since he first rocked up to the Durham Academy as a teenager, all emu legs and broad smile. “He played as an overseas player in the league in Burnmoor just around the corner from Chester le Street,” Windows says.
“He played for them for a year, and it was straightforward after that, he joined the academy. Everyone was talking about him, as a super lad and a fast bowler.”
“He was just like he is now, effervescent and full of fun. One of those lads you want to do well. He’s a great team man and people respond well to him. He’s hugely athletic, you’d look and see that fast action, with a fast arm, a great physique: it is hard not to make a success of things when you’ve got those sort of attributes.”
Carse was born in Cape Town and grew up in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), a sporty boy who played cricket, rugby and hockey and spent hours watching his dad, James, on the cricket field. The Durham connection had come through Geoff Cook, who captained James at Northamptonshire in the 1980s and remembered him as fast and furious.
When Carse Sr got on the phone, Cook was immediately interested. Carse Jr finished school and flew over, playing his first summer of cricket for Burnmoor in 2014. He played another season, signed for the Durham academy, made his first-class debut in 2016 and qualified for England in 2019 courtesy of his dad’s British passport.
Windows can remember when Carse changed from being full of potential to the real deal. “It was probably 2017, he did a full winter in the gym. He became friends with Sam Clark, the strength and conditioning coach, worked really hard and turned himself into a proper athlete.
“His talent was raw and then he refined his skills and mentality. He developed the skills of playing, the rigours of bowling every day.”
It hasn’t been an entirely straight path. Carse struggled with persistent injuries and, bored, started placing bets on cricket – something that resulted in a three-month ban this summer.
But England stuck with him, as they had ever since they’d become aware of his potential. “The pace is the key as soon as you can bowl that fast [high 80s], then it is just the matter of time until England find out,” says Windows. “It’s a pretty sophisticated system now. Neil Killeen, the England bowling coach, lives just up the road. He would be around quite a lot, looking at sessions, seeing the England lads around the place.”
Windows thinks the enforced break from cricket was not necessarily a bad thing. “Sometimes a break helps you take stock and refine, it drives you on to higher standards. You’d rather not have it but England have seen the results the other side.”
How does Carse compare with others who have passed through the academy on the famous Durham production line? “He’s right up there, the top end of the scale,” says Windows. “We’re lucky to have lots of players come through so you don’t crystal ball too far ahead. But when you pause for breath, you can see that he’s got all the attributes.
“He bowls his height, gets bounce off a length and that’s what unsettles the really good batsmen. He’s always got a ball that’s going to get someone out. As soon as the confidence starts to grow, he could turn himself into a real asset for that team. He loves it, he’s absolutely the centre of the fun, he’s one of the good guys.”
Stack that up with what Ben Stokes called “the heart of a lion” and England could have just found themselves a gem, honed in a rich seam, somewhere between South Africa and the north-east.
