England drop Brydon Carse, include Sonny Baker for Pakistan Test

England have left out fast bowler Brydon Carse from their squad for the third and final Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston, which starts on Wednesday.

Carse was dropped from the second Test at Lord’s after he was arrested following an incident outside a nightclub in Derby last month. He remains under investigation by Derbyshire police over allegations of assault. His place has gone to 23-year-old Sonny Baker, who keeps his spot in the 15-man England team. Surrey’s Matthew Fisher has been left out as England look to complete a series clean sweep against Pakistan.

The 31-year-old Carse has not played for England since June, when he featured in a one-off Test against New Zealand at The Oval. He returned to action for Durham last week, taking four wickets against Gloucestershire, but was not selected for their current County Championship match against Northamptonshire. The omission comes as England weigh up resting key seamers Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue for the six white-ball matches against Sri Lanka that follow the Test series. Baker, Essex’s Sam Cook and Derbyshire spinner Shoaib Bashir could all feature if the trio are rotated.

Pakistan have made sweeping changes for the Edgbaston Test, dropping seven players and bringing in five uncapped names. Their head coach has also been released ahead of the match. England won the first Test by an innings and 103 runs at Headingley and sealed victory with a 194-run win at Lord’s last week. Both sides will now look to regroup ahead of the white-ball series, with England’s squad likely to see further adjustments as they manage workloads and rotation.