How Ben Duckett went from English cricket's problem child to world-beater

Telegraph

3 days ago

As Ben Duckett stood on the Headingley outfield enjoying the warm glow of his finest performance yet, there were signs everywhere of how far he had come.
He was once English cricket's problem child, who looked like being lost to the Test game. Now, he was being awarded a magnum of sparkling wine as man of the match after playing one of England's great fourth-innings knocks, a century of high skill, but also smarts. There were the considered comments afterwards about his strategy that were a window into how he plays such a high-risk game with such precision but also why he is obviously Harry Brook's unofficial vice-captain of England's white-ball teams.
But also, stood a few metres away with his fiancee and his father, was his 11-month-old baby, Margot. 'I'm a Dad now,' he said, to conclude his lengthy press engagements. 'I'm looking over at her right now, and just want to give her a cuddle. I've definitely realised there's more to life.' With his duties finally wrapped up, the various Ducketts played on the outfield en famille.
Baby Margot saying a big well done to B̶e̶n̶ ̶D̶u̶c̶k̶e̶t̶t̶ Daddy of the Match 🏅 pic.twitter.com/IyhJDdsNjF
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 24, 2025
This is a very different cricketer and man from the one who first played for England aged 21 and even from the one who was recalled as a seasoned pro in 2022.
Trouble seemed to follow Duckett around in the early years of his career. He was never a bad kid but a clubbable, giddy nature sometimes erred into waywardness. He was cheeky, a character trait you can still see in his batting today.
More than a decade ago, he was sent home from Northamptonshire and England U19s tours for fitness issues and earned himself a drink-driving ban. On his first tour with England in 2016, to Bangladesh and India, he was sick on the head coach Trevor Bayliss on an internal flight, according to the book Bazball. And, most infamously, he was sent home from an England Lions tour in December 2017 for pouring a drink over Jimmy Anderson's head in the Avenue, a Perth nightclub.
Amid the tumult of a disastrous Ashes tour which took place in the shadow of Ben Stokes's Bristol ban, the drink-pouring incident was blown out of all proportion. That was in part because it took place in the same venue as another incident that was made to seem something it was not, when Jonny Bairstow allegedly 'headbutted' Cameron Bancroft, who was then a little-known Australian hopeful.
Duckett has described being banished as the lowest point of his career and only last year revealed that Anderson actually threw a drink on him first, but it was not seen by team security. Given he came with a reputation and was not even in the Test squad, he proved an easy fall guy for a management that needed to look headmasterly, and send a message.
Formidable partnership with Crawley
Now 30, there is a maturity to Duckett that was writ large across his innings at Headingley. He has built a formidable record using a unique method, and Michael Vaughan is not the only sound judge calling him the best batsman across all formats in the international game right now. His Test average opening the batting is currently better than Alastair Cook's and his partnership with Zak Crawley averages 45 runs per innings at five runs per over. Cook and Andrew Strauss averaged 41 at three an over.
Duckett and Crawley's strength lies in their differences. One is short, the other tall. One is left-handed, the other right. Bowlers struggle to adjust their lengths. As this image illustrates, a ball that lands on the same length can be played dramatically differently by each man.
At Headingley he played a freakish innings, featuring a wide variety of reverse-sweeps off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling into the rough outside his off-stump. The quality of Duckett's execution of that incredibly difficult skill was put into context by Stokes's own attempt to mimic him. It felt like Stokes could get out any ball to Jadeja, and eventually he did. Crawley admitted that Duckett managed the conditions so much better than him, that he was just trying to get his partner back on strike.
'My mindset personally was a bit different to what it has been over the last couple of years,' Duckett said of the chase at Headingley. 'I was trying to focus on key moments. Pretty obvious, but Jasprit was a big threat of theirs. Potentially a bit of maturity from me kicking in, realising that whenever he came on it was going to be a short, sharp burst. Trying to see him off, and not necessarily playing any big shots, knowing it would get easier.
'I think I'm learning it a bit quicker. Jasprit got me out in the first Test in India. Reverse swing, big drive, bowled. He did the same this week, not reverse swing, but bowled. It's just realising that he's coming back on to do exactly that. Realising, and taking the ego out of things. Knowing I don't need to do that. It's not negative, because I will still try to put the bad ball away when he bowls it, but understanding why he's coming on. It's to get the breakthrough, to get me out.'
Duckett added that his own 'failures' were driving his improvement. After the Perth incident, he fought back to international cricket the hard way, moving from Northants to Nottinghamshire and racking up scores in county cricket while remaining committed to the longest format when he could have gone all-in on the franchise scene.
Duckett has further challenges to face this year. He has left a few hundreds out there across formats over the last year, including in the first innings at Headingley. And, like all England's batsmen, he will be peppered by the short ball in Australia this winter (he should have been out to one on 97 at Headingley).