One is nearing the end of his Test career, while the other has barely begun. But, between them, Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse did a demolition job on New Zealand’s batting line-up in the first Test at Hagley Oval.
The significance of Woakes’s late burst on the third afternoon, when he removed Kane Williamson and Tom Blundell in successive balls, may not extend much beyond this series. He turns 36 in March, and it is hard to imagine he will make the Ashes trip in a year’s time.
But the continued excellence of Carse, England’s best bowler of the winter, has set the Test team up beautifully for a seismic 2025 which includes five-match series against both India and Australia.
With England aiming to capitalise on a first-innings lead of 151 after Harry Brook finally fell for 171 and Ben Stokes hit 80 in the city of his birth – his highest score since the 2023 Ashes – Carse removed Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and, shortly before stumps, Glenn Phillips.
‘He’s an unbelievable bowler and athlete,’ said Brook. ‘He’s around 90mph, and it’s great to have someone like that with extreme pace in the team. There’s always an event happening when he’s on. It feels like he’s going to get a wicket every ball.’
Carse’s three wickets helped give England control of the series opener and, following a first-innings haul of four, took his early Test numbers to 16 at an average of 19 – impressive figures for a bowler whose first two Tests came on a shirtfront and a turner in Pakistan.
Brydon Carse took three wickets on day three to bowl England into a dominant position
Carse has been England’s best bowler of the winter with his express pace causing problems for batters
Harry Brook paid tribute to the ‘unbelievable’ Carse after hitting a majestic 171 of his own with the bat
But while Carse, who recently told Mail Sport about his Ashes ambitions, has already inked his name into England’s Australia plans, Woakes came out to bowl in New Zealand’s second innings potentially playing for his Test career.
The discrepancy between his figures at home and away has long hung over him: in England, he has 137 Test wickets at 21, an average better than Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad managed at home; abroad, he had 38 at nearly 54.
A first-innings analysis of none for 70 strengthened the case against him, while the argument that he offered a bridge between the batsmen and the bowlers at No 8 was weakened when he fell for a single during England’s first-innings 499. To rub it in, Gus Atkinson (48 off 36 balls) and Carse (33 not out off 24) then bashed five sixes between them.
But Woakes provided an immediate riposte, having Tom Latham caught low down at second slip by Brook for a single in the third over to give himself, and England, an early lift.
Then, after Williamson and Daryl Mitchell had eased New Zealand to 133 for three, just 18 behind, he produced a decisive one-two to set England on the path, they hoped, to victory.
First he nipped one back into Williamson’s front pad – enough to persuade umpire Rod Tucker to uphold the lbw shout. When Williamson asked for a review, DRS suggested umpire’s call on impact with off stump, and New Zealand’s greatest player, having ticked off 9,000 Test runs, was out for 61.
The next ball, to wicketkeeper Blundell, went the other way, straightening off the seam to kiss the outside edge so imperceptibly that Blundell instantly called for a review. It could not save him.
Glenn Phillips repelled the hat-trick ball, but the mood had changed on the third evening of a game which England had spent the previous four sessions grabbing by the scruff. Six down, New Zealand led by just two.
Brook also hailed Chris Woakes after he picked up two wickets in two balls late in the day
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‘He was immense with the new ball,’ said Brook. ‘He’s always niggling away at the top of off stump, with the swing he gets and the skills he got. And at the back end there, what we saw was unbelievable.
‘On that pitch, and not getting too much out of it, to get the two big wickets of Williamson and Blundell back to back was a dagger to their heart.
‘Williamson always looks secure when he’s batting. He’s such a high-class performer, and almost like he’s impossible to get out. To see the back of him gave everyone a lot of energy. And to get Blundell out next ball got everybody firing.’
Earlier, Brook was dropped for the fifth time as he added 39 to his overnight 132, and took his Test average back above 60. Stokes, meanwhile, confirmed what was obvious when he spoke so openly before the match about the difficulties he experienced on the tour of Pakistan: he is in a happier place now, and the team can only benefit.