Brydon Carse won’t play for England at Lord’s, and the reason has nothing to do with form or fitness. He’s been pulled from the second Test after a weekend incident in Derby triggered a Cricket Regulator investigation, with Sonny Baker drafted in as his direct replacement. Practically, it barely dents the attack: Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson skittled Pakistan twice at Headingley without him. The bigger question is what happens once the investigation concludes and Carse looks to reclaim a place in an attack that just won without him.
Brydon Carse England 2nd Test Replacement
The incident happened on Saturday night in a Derby nightclub. Video footage that circulated the next day showed Carse in handcuffs being led out by police, with Durham teammate Matthew Potts and former captain Ben Stokes also caught on camera nearby. Accounts differ on the specifics: some reports called it a brief arrest, others described him as detained but never arrested.
The ECB confirmed it was looking into events from that night, then followed up with a firmer line: the governing body had referred the matter to the Cricket Regulator, and Carse would sit out the match at Lord’s while the investigation ran its course. No timeline was given for how long that might take.
Root didn’t hide his frustration when asked about it before the match. He spoke about how unwelcome the timing felt given how well the team had just performed at Headingley, and made clear the matter was now entirely out of the squad’s hands.
Sonny Baker’s Path Into The Squad
Baker is 23, a right-arm quick who’s settled in at Hampshire after crossing over from Somerset, and he regularly clocks around 90 miles an hour. His county form this season has been excellent: 22 wickets in six Championship matches for Hampshire, including a five-for against Nottinghamshire in May and another five-for against Somerset earlier in the year.
He already has a Test cap. The Oval call-up against New Zealand in June came after an injury to Ollie Robinson, and this will be his chance to add a second if selectors turn to him again. His white-ball record is thinner: an expensive ODI debut against South Africa and a similarly rough T20 introduction against Ireland, both last September.
McCullum has previously backed his raw pace and swing, suggesting crowds would get behind him once he found early success.
Pace Bowling Options Ahead Of Lord’s
England named a 16-player squad for the second Test, and the pace cupboard stays deep even with one man missing. Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sam Cook, Matthew Fisher, Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue are all available options, alongside Baker as the direct replacement, who now waits for his chance among a well-stocked group.
At Headingley, Robinson and Tongue shared eight wickets apiece to help bowl out Pakistan for 171 and 135, an innings-and-103-run win. Archer chipped in with three in the second innings, while Atkinson took one. None of that quartet is expected to make way, which leaves Baker’s most realistic route into the XI blocked for now.
Reporting out of the camp this week suggests the attacking combination that dismantled Pakistan twice stays untouched, with Sam Cook and Matthew Fisher the other seam options waiting on the sidelines.
Precedent For Player Discipline Cases
This isn’t the first time England have had to separate a player’s conduct from selection mid-series. Earlier this year, Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson broke a team curfew after the first Test against New Zealand. The ECB issued reprimands, the Cricket Regulator investigated and found insufficient evidence of a regulatory breach, and the board then ran its own internal process before ruling both men had breached contractual obligations.
That case gives a rough template for how this one might unfold: a regulator review first, followed by whatever action the ECB decides on its own terms. Disciplinary hearings typically happen within 28 days of a charge letter, though nothing in Carse’s case has moved to that stage yet.
Carse has been through a regulatory process before, serving a betting ban in 2024 after admitting to placing hundreds of wagers on cricket years earlier. Whatever the outcome this time, the Brydon Carse England 2nd Test replacement saga has already cost him a match he’d have expected to play.