Brydon Carse’s omission opens the door for Sonny Baker and Henry Crocombe, two uncapped seamers now inside England’s white-ball plans a year earlier than either expected. The decision follows a drunk and disorderly arrest in Derby on 22 August, an incident the ECB says will keep Carse out of selection while he works through what led to it. Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton retain their places, giving England enough experienced pace even with their most in-form seamer sidelined. Joe Root has already made his frustration with repeated off-field incidents clear.
The Night That Changed His Season
Carse was taken into custody on the night of 22 August outside a bar in Derby, where Durham’s players were celebrating a 338-run County Championship win over Derbyshire. He was de-arrested shortly afterwards after agreeing to leave the area and was released without charge that night. Ben Stokes and Matthew Potts were also present, though nothing suggests either was involved.
Derbyshire Police have confirmed a separate assault inquiry tied to the same night remains open, though the extent of Carse’s connection to it has not been established. It is not his first brush with discipline. In 2024 he served part of a 16-month ban, 13 months of it suspended, for placing hundreds of bets on cricket matches years earlier, none of which he played in.
Carse has taken 34 wickets in 30 ODIs and 20 in 14 T20Is, at averages of 40.44 and 20.60 respectively, numbers that made him a first-choice pick across formats. He led England’s wicket-takers in the 2025-26 Ashes with 22 Test scalps, which is exactly what makes this particular omission sting.
Brydon Carse England white ball series omission
The ECB initially said only that it was aware of reports from Derby and investigating. By 4 September, with Carse fit and available, the board confirmed he had been left out on disciplinary grounds rather than form, adding that the omission does not prejudge any investigation’s outcome.
That call now spans two Test matches, at Lord’s and Edgbaston, and both white-ball squads for the September schedule. Root did not hide his frustration ahead of the Lord’s Test, saying he was hacked off that teammates kept making costly mistakes away from the field.
The omission also covers the third Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston, which starts on 9 September, extending his absence across three matches in that format alone. Sonny Baker, uncapped before this month, has already deputised for him once and now does so again.
New Faces Fill The Pace Void
Sonny Baker, already drafted in as Carse’s Test replacement at Lord’s, keeps his place in both white-ball squads alongside Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue. Saqib Mahmood adds to the T20I pace options specifically.
Henry Crocombe’s call-up to the ODI squad is the standout addition. The uncapped Sussex seamer has taken back-to-back first-class five-wicket hauls, against Somerset and Essex, only the seventh instance of consecutive hat-tricks in the sport’s history. National selector Marcus North pointed to a strong domestic season across multiple competitions in explaining the call.
Crocombe’s numbers across the domestic game are considerable for a player yet to debut: 106 first-class wickets at an average of 36.02, 49 List A wickets at 33.46, and 34 T20 wickets at 29.50. He joined the Test squad during the New Zealand series in June without playing, so this call completes a rapid rise.
A Reset With Real Selection Stakes
England are also missing Phil Salt to a quad injury and Sam Curran following groin surgery, while Jacob Bethell continues rehab after knee surgery of his own. That leaves Harry Brook leading a squad already stretched thin across multiple injuries and one enforced absence.
The T20I squad also includes Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Liam Dawson, Aneurin Donald, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks and Adil Rashid alongside the seamers already named. The ODI party swaps in Rehan Ahmed and Joe Root for some of those names, reflecting the different balance each format demands.
Carse remains part of the wider picture even while out of favour, given how central he was to England’s Ashes success over the winter. Whether he returns for the rest of the international summer depends on how this Brydon Carse England white-ball series omission is finally resolved.