LIKE his two fellow South Africans in the team, Durham's new paceman Brydon Carse is here to stay.

There were also two fellow countrymen, Tom Curran and Mat Pillans, in the Surrey team in the match against Durham, and there might have been a third had the younger Curran, Sam, not been doing his A-levels.

In such company Carse did not feel out of place. But he stresses that his seven Durham-born team-mates have all made him feel at home.

“They are a really good bunch of lads to get on with,” he said. “It’s good to have Keaton Jennings and Michael Richardson in the team, but I get on with all of them.

“Jack Burnham and I have become very close over the last couple of years and I enjoyed a quiet drink with him after his century at the Oval.”

Carse echoed the views of Jennings when he said: “There are more opportunities for us in England. I’ve always wanted to play here and it helps that my dad has a British passport, which entitles me to an ancestral visa.

“I still have to spend 230 days a year here to qualify for England, so I go back to South Africa for Christmas and play club cricket for a couple of months.

“I never thought that I wouldn’t make it in South Africa, but I’ve wanted to play in England from a young age.”

The 20-year-old paceman impressed in Durham’s second team last year, taking six for 42 against Worcestershire at Darlington in June, only to suffer a foot injury and miss the rest of the season.

Durham’s Director of Cricket Geoff Cook had captained Brydon’s father, James, at Northamptonshire in the 1980s and remembered that he was fast. So when he received a call from Carse senior recommending his son he was keen to take a look.

“I’ve never been tested on a speed gun, so I don’t know exactly how fast I bowl,” said Brydon. “But bowling as fast as I can is certainly the aim and hopefully I’ll develop more consistency with experience. Durham want to use me in short, quick spells.

“It was a special moment when I got Kumar Sangakkara out at the Oval, but as well as joy I felt relief. There aren’t many better players in the world.”

Carse was the fastest bowler in the match when he made his Specsavers County Championship debut in Durham’s opening match against Somerset.

He then made an impact against Middlesex by clean bowling Sam Robson and was awarded a development contract prior to taking three wickets at the Oval.

Although others like Paul Coughlin, Jamie Harrison and Usman Arshad are knocking on the door, with Ben Stokes no longer being available Carse seems certain keep his place when Durham resume at home to Lancashire on Sunday.