Black Caps v England: Ben Duckett

By Aiden McLaughlin

Cyclone Gabrielle hasn’t dampened the spirits of the England men’s cricket team. The indoor grass net facility at Bay Oval meant that an optional training session could take place on Monday afternoon, a session which most players attended.

The travelling party arrived back in Tauranga on Sunday to complete their preparations for the first Test match, starting on Thursday.

Unlike most of his team-mates, batsman Ben Duckett didn’t make it to Queenstown at the start of the tour – he was playing in the three-match ODI series in South Africa – but after arriving, he resumed his opening partnership with Zak Crawley in the two-day match against a New Zealand XI at Seddon Park last week.

Duckett, 28, scored a quickfire 32 off 28 balls as England racked up 465 at 6.70 runs per over, an aggressive red (or pink) ball run rate that is becoming commonplace for this rejuvenated team, under the leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

Duckett didn’t play in the first Test series of that new regime last year, when the Black Caps toured England. Having played two tests against Bangladesh and another two Tests against India, all in late 2016, he found himself out of favour for his country in the long form of the game, until September last year, after he scored 1,012 runs in the 2022 County Championship for Nottinghamshire at an average of 72.28, including three hundreds and five fifties

“I was called into the Test squad for the last game of the summer [against South Africa at The Oval] but I didn’t play, but with Jonny [Bairstow] being injured I had a pretty good idea that I had a good chance of being in the squad to tour Pakistan,” says Duckett.

Not only did Duckett make that end of year tour, he played a leading role as England tore up the record books while beating their hosts 3-0 to seal a series whitewash.

“To get that call was great and to be a part of that series, I think it’ll be pretty hard to top, even in 10 years time, you know, to go and do what we did there, was very special and for me personally to contribute in all of those games was something very special and to hit the winning runs in that series and bring the stump in with Stokesy at the other end, was a pretty proud moment.”

It all came together for Duckett and his teammates on day one of the first Test. Batting first, Duckett and opening partner Crawley reached the 100 mark in the 14th over. 16 overs later, they had made 200, with Duckett finally out for 107, his maiden Test century. He went on to score a total of 357 runs in the series, finishing off with an unbeaten 82 off 78 balls as England chased down 167 for victory off just 28.1 overs in the third Test. After such a remarkable sequence of performances by him and the team, did he appreciate the scale of the achievement when he was out there?

“No, probably not. That’s the brand of cricket that we want to play and led by Stokesy and Baz, you know, they want people to switch their tv’s on when we’re playing and I think we went out and did that,” Duckett says.

“There were no plans to go and do what we did. That first day was just incredible. Three quarters of us had been in bed ill for the two days leading up to that and we nearly pushed the Test match back a day, so I think to go and do that was quite incredible really. We sat in the dressing room afterwards and Paul Collingwood went through all the records that were broken and the list was pretty long.”

With Pakistan, and the recent ODI series in South Africa behind him, it’s time to experience something new, starting with his first pink ball test this week.

“Each tour and each place you play is completely different and brings different challenges. I’m really looking forward to this one. The Kiwis have got a great team and they’re a great bunch of lads as well,” says Duckett.

“Pakistan was great; the conditions were quite nicely suited for me. I feel good about my game and I’ll take the confidence from that into this series. For me personally now it’s [about] doing that more consistently to keep my place in this team. The thoughts of playing a home Ashes summer is something that, to be honest, I never thought I’d play in. It would be very exciting.”

At the time of our conversation on Monday, the potential absence of Kyle Jamieson from the opposition line-up was looking likely, but it’s not something Duckett was even aware of.

“The thing about this squad is focusing on us really, not really looking into who we’re playing against, whoever that may be. Whichever bowler [it is] we’ll go out and play in the same way.”

With so much talk around this England Test team, their style of play, and their leadership from their captain and coach, has Duckett ever been part of a culture like it before?

“I’ve never played in a team like it really. I think it’s probably clear from the outside what that’s like but, it’s the most relaxed environment I’ve ever played in. Fingers crossed we’ll keep that going and I’m sure we will.”

Black Caps v England Test Series

First Test: Thu 16th Feb – Mon 20th Feb, Bay Oval, Tauranga

Second Test: Fri 24th Feb – Tue 28th Feb, Basin Reserve, Wellington

In New Zealand, both Tests will be broadcast live on Spark Sport and Today FM

In England, both Tests will be broadcast live on BT Sport and TalkSport

 

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