Ten days after the dizzying conclusion of England’s wafer-thin Test defeat in New Zealand and Ben Duckett’s head remains to be spinning. Within hours he used to be heading for a short lived vacation in Dubai, this Tuesday he arrived in Bangladesh, on Wednesday he had his first and most effective consultation within the nets, and on Thursday he performed a T20 world.
Given he have been “on a sun lounger a couple of days ago”, Duckett would possibly were excused a bit loss of focal point, however there used to be no signal of his thoughts being in other places till he performed throughout one who stored low. “I tried to stick to my strengths. It went all right and then I missed one,” he said.
The transition between formats is perhaps more straightforward now, after the well-publicised changes to the Test team over the past year, and all the more so for Duckett given his busy, sweep-heavy style.
“The one thing I’ve been lucky with is because of how I play it doesn’t really change throughout the formats,” he stated. “You see these guys who are whacking the ball out of the ground and then they’ve got to go and play Test cricket and it’s a massive difference, whereas my mentality in all three formats is to see ball, hit ball. And now against spin, sweeping it both ways in all formats – and I’ve got full backing from all of the squads.”
This series returns Duckett to the site of his international debut seven years ago. He played seven times for England in 2016, breaking into the ODI side in Dhaka, where the final two games of this series will be played, and continuing with a first Test in Chattogram, where England lost the opener on Thursday. Just one more appearance followed before he burst back onto the international scene last autumn. Since then he has played eight T20s, five Tests and three ODIs, suddenly re-emerging as a key player in all formats at the age of 28.
“I’ve matured as a cricketer,” he said, after making a 13-ball 20 in partnership with Jos Buttler in the T20 series opener. “It’s realizing what works for me, understanding what my strengths are. Seven years ago I might have tried to hit Shakib [Al Hasan] for six over long-on; Now I know all I have to do is hit the ball in front of square leg and it’s four runs. The small taste I had back then, I was very young and probably wasn’t ready. I think that comes with age and most batters are at their best when they get to the age of 28, 29.”
Duckett has had an strange wintry weather for a world cricketer, that includes in 5 sequence in 4 nations throughout 3 codecs and 3 continents, and not using a franchise-based interludes.
“For me, the focus is on the chance to play all three formats for England,” he stated. “And that is going to be my focal point for so long as I’m within the squad. Don’t get me incorrect, if I’ve were given a month subsequent wintry weather and I am getting presented some huge cash, I’m almost certainly going to head and play in it, as maximum people would. But you’ll be able to play a majority of these leagues world wide in a couple of years’ time, presently I’m only enthusiastic about taking part in as a lot for England as I will be able to. That wreck I had used to be doubtlessly a excellent factor for me, and it is made me so hungry now to take each and every unmarried likelihood I am getting.”
Of a total of 24 international appearances only one of those has been on home soil. This summer offers the tantalizing prospect of a home Ashes series, with a potential World Cup chaser in the autumn.
“I’m simply taking part in cricket and we will see,” he said. “I dream of playing in the World Cup but it’s out of my hands. Thankfully I have a lot of things to enjoy this summer, so I’ll score as many runs as I can and we’ll see from there.”