After another 11 wickets in the second Test in Wellington, and a combined total across the tours of Pakistan and New Zealand now standing at 39, there can be no doubt this has been the winter of Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse.
Only six months ago England’s planning for next winter’s Ashes would have been all about getting Mark Wood and Jofra Archer fit. Now they might not get in the team. Atkinson has played 10 Tests and Carse only four, but they have already shown they are capable of such penetrating bowling at this level.
Although they are both right-arm fast bowlers, they pose contrasting threats: Atkinson is a little more skiddy in his trajectory, so he can bowl a back-of-a-length ball that would probably go on to hit the top of the stumps, whereas Carse generates a bit more bounce. Atkinson can find a bit of swing; Carse hits the pitch hard looking for seam. Chris Woakes takes the new ball in this England team and he has used it well, but it’s Atkinson and Carse who have the opposition rattled.
It is massively important that both are also very capable batters, and that could have a really big impact next winter. On the Ashes tour I went on as a coach, in 2017-18, I remember our lower order getting bombed. If you’re going to be successful in Australia you are going to have to get through a lot of short-pitched bowling and that year it was a clear plan: they absolutely bullied us. Even a very capable batter such as Woakes struggled – they went hard on him, and with the rest they were relentless.
I tried to encourage our bowlers to do a certain amount of short-ball practice but it’s uncomfortable, not something players look forward to, and with Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in particular I had to be careful: I didn’t want them to get any kind of injury, so I tended to bowl outside off-stump to them, so they could get a handle on the pace and height without the risk of being hit. Even so they all struggled badly.
Atkinson and Carse both have a very good eye, are useful hitters in the short formats, and are going to go out and play a few shots. The runs they could contribute towards the bottom of the order could be invaluable.
I really hope to see Wood and Archer in Australia next year, but my view at the moment is that it would be a complete bonus if they make the trip and are able to play one or two Tests. Whether that pair are fit or not, Atkinson and Carse are first on the teamsheet on current form. These two lads are doing the business. They’ve done the hard yards in Pakistan and found the pitches in New Zealand a bit more to their liking. It could be that being forced to work so hard in difficult conditions on the winter’s first tour honed their skills and allowed them to take advantage in better circumstances.
Matt Potts and Olly Stone are also in New Zealand and Potts in particular is a handy player to have, such a willing worker. Josh Tongue is tall, with an awkward action, and I think they’ll want him available as well. It’s quite exciting to look at the variety of bowlers contributing, and to look forward to their development over the next 12 months and across big series against India and Australia.
Harry Brook has taken over from his England teammate Joe Root at the top of the International Cricket Council's men's Test batter world rankings.
Brook scored his eighth Test century against New Zealand in Wellington last week, edging him one point ahead of Root on 898. The 25-year-old joins India's Sachin Tendulkar with the equal 34th highest rating of all time for Test batters.
Brook, who made his Test debut in 2022, has scored 2280 runs in 23 matches at an average of just over 61. Root had gone above New Zealand's Kane Williamson to the top of the standings in the summer and could return to the summit during the third Test, which starts in Hamilton on 14 December.
Brook has been in inspired form in New Zealand, hitting back-to-back centuries in Christchurch and Wellington to help England claim the series 2-0 with one match still to play. PA Media
But perhaps no bowler is as important to England as their fourth seamer. It is such a relief to see Ben Stokes back with the ball in his hand, and in the opening game in Christchurch he bowled more overs than he had managed in any Test for nearly two years. I think he has looked athletic, has got the ball through with good pace, and it is so vital for the balance of the side to have a middle-order batter who can also contribute with the ball. With the bat he has had a quiet year but it looks like his fluency is coming back through playing matches and spending time at the crease.
Some of England’s batting is also very exciting. At the end of the second Test Joe Root described Harry Brook as the best player in the world, which was kind of him. Joe is a very modest guy, but for me he is still the best batter around.
There’s no doubt Brook is in phenomenal form, and we all marvel at the confidence, the ease, the power with which he manages to get his score moving. He tries to dislodge bowlers from their line and length by coming down the pitch and using his feet. That’s a sound tactic, and doing it to someone who bowls at Matt Henry’s pace takes serious skill. But the reason I consider Joe a better player is his level of consistency. He’s a real craftsman. Brook’s time may well come, but it’s not here yet.
