The report added: “A scene from a cartoon, it took a community effort of mums, children and flat white drinkers to gather the notes and return them to the table of wealthy cricketers. They were polite, embarrassed, but the bad thing had happened anyway. The tour is going much the same way.”
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Earlier in the week, captain Ben Stokes spoke about the “much-needed getaway” to Noosa after England’s eight-wicket loss in Brisbane.
“We’ve been here four weeks and they’ve been pretty full on,” he said. “As physical as this game is, a huge part is the mental side. I know what the game can do to you when things aren’t going right. It’s so important for teams to get away together and put the pressures aside for a couple of days.”The series opener at the Optus Stadium had ended in just two days. The second Test went late into Day 4.
Stokes and Will Jacks showed resistance on the penultimate morning, turning the deficit into a lead. But Australia bounced back in the second session and the rest of the line-up crumbled for just 241 runs.
Australia were set a target of 65 runs. The hosts raced to an eight-wicket win in 10 overs, either side of a 20-minute interval, as serious storms brewed to the southwest.
The third match will start on December 17 at the Adelaide Oval with England needing a win to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes. The fourth Test starts Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney will host the fifth Test from Jan. 4.### Brydon Carse's Windy Wallet Woe: A Cash-Fueled Comedy in the Ashes
England's pace bowler Brydon Carse, already under pressure in a tough Ashes 2025 series Down Under (where the visitors are trailing 0-2 after losses in Perth and Brisbane), had what can only be described as a *Mr. Bean*-meets-*Home Alone* moment. During a team brunch at a breezy riverside café in Perth—right after the opening Test defeat—Carse's pocket decided to play its own game of fetch. Out tumbled **thousands of dollars in cash** (exact figure undisclosed, but enough to make headlines), which promptly caught the wind and scattered like confetti at a bad party.
He wasn't alone in the mishap; teammates Harry Brook and Zak Crawley were there, politely playing the role of stunned spectators as the notes fluttered across the outdoor seating area. Why Carse was toting that much loose change remains a mystery—perhaps tips from a side gig as a street performer, or just poor planning for a cashless society? (No links to his past betting suspension from 2024; this was pure bad luck, not a sequel.)
The real MVPs? A ragtag rescue squad of local mums, kids, and café patrons who sprang into action like extras in a feel-good rom-com. They rounded up the bills and returned the pile to the players' table, saving Carse from total financial freefall. "It was a scene from a cartoon," quipped one observer, capturing the sheer absurdity amid England's grim tour—think slapstick relief in a series of straight-faced collapses.
Carse, 30 and a South Africa-born enforcer who's taken 14 Test wickets at 32.50 since his 2024 debut, emerged red-faced but unscathed. Teammates kept it light, with no reported ribbing (yet—expect that in the dressing room). The story broke during a mini-break in Noosa, where the squad's trying to reset before the third Test at Adelaide. If this is Bazball's version of "aggressive intent," count me in for the sequel. Moral? Next time, Brydon, use a wallet with a leash—or Venmo the wind.
