England’s fast bowlers were told to run in and “smash the wicket hard” by captain Ben Stokes on an enthralling opening day of the first Ashes Test in Perth.
England’s tail collapsed from 160-6 to 172 all out before their bowlers turned the tables – Australia closing on 123-9, 49 runs behind the tourists.
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Carse and Jofra Archer took two wickets each before Ben Stokes picked up 5-23 in an hostile and sustained spell of fast bowling.
“Stokesy (captain Ben Stokes) kept it really simple and just told the bowlers to give everything,” Carse said of how they approached the Australian innings.
“He said: ‘Let’s smash the wicket hard and see how much we can get out of the wicket.’ “I thought the way Gus Atkinson and Jofra (Archer) started was phenomenal.
“Then I thought we carried that into the afternoon session and we were quite relentless through the evening and Ben rotated us well.
“We bounce off each other and we all have different attributes and complement each other well. It’s a good start and we’re never going to shy away from that relentlessness.”
