England fast bowler Brydon Carse has revealed he once considered amputating one of his toes to overcome a painful and persistent injury that disrupted his cricketing career. Now, with the issue under control, Carse has been included in England’s squad for the opening Test against India, which begins on June 20 at Leeds.
Carse, regarded as a rising star among England’s pace battery with 27 wickets in five Tests, suffered deep, infected cuts on the second toe of his left foot. The repeated impact of his front foot while bowling caused the injury, which flared up during England’s white-ball tour of India earlier this year. The condition forced him to miss the Champions Trophy and kept him sidelined for three months.
“I Thought About Getting Rid of It”
In a candid interview with the BBC, Carse shared just how severe the situation became:
“𝑨𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, ‘𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 — 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒆,’ 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕,” 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
He also admitted that his teammates now joke about his toe in the dressing room: “I try not to mention the toe in the changing room any more because people are sick of it. It is a bit of a running joke in the changing room, my second toe.”
Special Footwear and Rest Brought Relief
To manage the issue, Carse switched to narrower boots, got custom insoles, and even cut a hole in his shoe to relieve pressure. The fast bowler explained:
“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒙 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒖𝒑.”
Initially, there were discussions about plastic surgery, but rest and modified footwear ultimately helped resolve the issue.
Carse had to forgo a lucrative IPL contract and missed the one-off Test against Zimbabwe. He made his return to first-class cricket in late May and has since featured in all three ODIs against the West Indies, playing a key role in England’s 3-0 series sweep.
Now fully fit and hopeful, Carse is set to take on India in what promises to be an exciting five-Test series.
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