Bowler Brydon Carse insists it has “always been a number one focus” to play cricket for England after his key performance in the first Vitality T20 International against New Zealand.
The Durham quick took three wickets for 23 runs as England charged to a seven-wicket victory in the first game of their white-ball series.
Dawid Malan and Harry Brook chased down the 140 target, scoring 54 and 43 respectively to give England the advantage going into the second T20 at Old Trafford on Friday.
Carse was a late replacement in the 20-over squad for the New Zealand series, replacing the injured John Turner, and despite dealing with injuries himself in recent times, he insists that playing for England remains a priority.
“Over the last year I’ve had massive ambitions to play for England,” Carse told a press conference.
“I was unfortunate in the winter to pick up an injury and it’s always been my number one focus to try and play for England again.
“With the amount of white-ball cricket in all the different leagues around the world at the moment players have got a lot of opportunity to play a lot of cricket.
“I think it just comes down to what your ambition is, what you want to do as a cricketer. I’ve still got a lot of ambition to play red-ball cricket and to play Test cricket for England.”
It was a welcome homecoming at the Riverside for Carse, who earned his first T20 international scalp for England after bowling Finn Allen.
He struck again in the final over, picking up the wickets of Ish Sodhi and Adam Milne and Carse admitted there was plenty of excitement when he found out he had been selected to play on home turf.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Carse added. “When I got the news from Jos (Buttler) yesterday afternoon that I’d be playing there was a lot of excitement to play at Durham, where I’ve played my cricket over the last nine years.
“So a lot of familiar faces and a lot of familiar surroundings, it probably just made me that little more relaxed coming into the game.”
Unphased by his omission from the provisional 50-over World Cup squad, Brook played a key part alongside Malan in getting England over the line with 36 balls to spare and Carse admitted the Yorkshire batter is “a joy to watch”.
He said: “I’m glad I haven’t had to play against him in the last 18 months because he’s either been for England or in the Hundred with me – so far it’s been okay!
“He just seems to be hitting it all around the ground and the tempo he’s batting at, it’s great for him and for English cricket to be honest.
“He’s been unbelievable, I’m fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with Harry on and off the field as well, I get on well with him.
“To see him go about his business over the last 18 months has been a joy to watch, he’s such a laid back character in and around training, he loves batting.”
Starc hails 'fantastic bowler' Bumrah after day one in Perth
Australia seamer Mitchell Starc heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah's performance on day one of their Test against India in Perth.
India struggled with the bat and finished their first innings on 150, with Rishabh Pant (37) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41) helping them to improve on a poor start.
However, the tourists wrestled back control, leaving Australia on 67-7 at the close of play, thanks to Bumrah's inspired display.
On Friday, 17 wickets fell, the most on the opening day of a Test in Australia since 1952.
He finished on 4-17, leaving Australia 19-3 inside the seventh over as he took Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney and Steve Smith in quick succession.
Starc will start at the crease alongside Alex Carey on day two, and he was impressed by Bumrah's efficiency with the ball.
"So, there's no surprise that he's [Bumrah] been a fantastic bowler across the formats for a long time," Starc said.
"And again, his skills were on show [on Friday] as to how, how good he is. So, yeah, I'm sure there's something in that release point.
"That's significant to his action. It's something a lot of people can't do, so I'm not, I'm certainly not going to go and try it. I'll probably snap."
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
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