Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
England national selector Marcus North has left the door open for Brydon Carse to feature in the country’s upcoming Test series with South Africa after he was included in the Lions squad.
Carse has not been selected in any international set-up since he was handcuffed outside a Derby nightclub in August.
The incident infuriated England after an Ashes tour blighted by accusations of a drinking culture.
It led to the seamer, England’s leading wicket-taker in the Ashes, being dropped from the squad for the second and third Tests of England’s 3-0 series win at home to Pakistan.
Red-ball captain Joe Root said the incident left him “hacked off” while white-ball counterpart Harry Brook acknowledged “time away” was required for Carse.
Even though no charges were brought against Carse by police the cricket regulator charged the South African-born 31-year-old with breaching the England and Wales Cricket Board’s professional conduct regulations.
However, Carse will travel to his native country this month after being named in the squad for the Lions, a mix of the developmental and second-string.
Their tour will run alongside the three-match Test series for Root’s team against the Proteas.
With seamer Josh Tongue set to miss the first Test against South Africa due to the birth of his second child, Australian North confirmed “one or two players” from the Lions squad will be drafted in and did not rule out Carse.
“In the past few months under investigation it’s been a time where he has stood back and it’s been a time of reflection,” North said..
“It’s been a challenging time for Brydon and it’s one we probably haven’t at times felt the demands of playing international cricket and what he was dealing with was necessarily right for Brydon or us.
“There has been several conversations and the conclusion is we feel he is in a place where we can introduce him back into an England environment, with the Lions the right place.”
England announced a 15-player Test squad which contained uncapped Nottinghamshire spinner Liam Patterson-White with leftarmer Shoaib Bashir, who was in the Ashes party but did not play a Test, dropped to the Lions. Former Test vice-captain Ollie Pope is also in the shadow squad.
The Test series means Brook, Jacob Bethell and Jordan Cox will miss the last T20 of the five-match series in Australia.
ENGLAND (Test squad to tour South Africa: J Root (capt), J Archer, G Atkinson, S Baker, J Bethell, H Brook, S Cook, J Cox, B Duckett, E Gay, D Lawrence, L Patterson-White, O Robinson, J Smith; J Tongue.
