Ben Duckett: from impetuous talent to world-class opener

Times

6 days ago

Ben Duckett's man-of-the-match performance in England's record-breaking victory at Headingley marked another significant step in his evolution into one of the best opening batsmen in the world.
Duckett's rise has not been without detours. Initially thrust into Test cricket in 2016 and quickly dropped, his early career was marked by promise and exuberance without permanence or consistency.
But since returning to the side under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, he has become emblematic of the new England, initially doing exactly what they wanted — being aggressive and entertaining —but now, as Bazball moves into its next 'smarter' stage, evolving with it. The 30-year-old left-hander remains aggressive, but the impetuosity has been replaced by a more refined sense of opportunity. The result is Duckett's emergence as one of the most consistent and adaptable openers in world cricket — across all formats.
Since returning to the Test side for England's 2022 tour to Pakistan, Duckett's average is 47.37 at a strike rate of about 88. He has been defined as a player who doesn't believe in leaving the ball, but the fact that he was smart enough to not play at some of Jasprit Bumrah's deliveries in both innings at Headingley is strong evidence of development.
'My mindset was a bit different to what it has been over the last couple of years,' Duckett said after his match-winning 149 at Headingley. 'I was trying to focus on key moments. There is a potentially a bit of maturity from me kicking in.
'That was my first hundred in the last [fourth] innings [of a Test match] and I'm delighted. It's one thing I've not done loads of — even in county cricket. I think I'm learning a bit quicker. Bumrah got me out in the first Test in India last year: reverse-swing, big drive, bowled.
'I am taking the ego out of things, knowing that I don't need to go for the big drive. It's not turning negative, because I will still try to put the bad balls away.'
Duckett recognised that Bumrah, for all his brilliance, can only bowl in short spells and the smart move was to sensibly keep him at bay before targeting the other seamers. His century, and 62 in the first innings, were the performances of a player who now understands how to pace an innings, judge a situation, and exert pressure without recklessness.
'It's pretty obvious but Bumrah is a big threat,' Duckett said. 'It was about realising that whenever he came on it was going to be a short, sharp burst and it's about seeing him off.'
The Headingley Test offered a near-complete encapsulation of Duckett's growth. In the first innings, he was measured and patient; in the second, he was commanding — his 149 came in only 170 balls, but it felt less like a blitz and more like a clinical dismantling.
He waited for the bowlers to err, and when they did, he punished with fluency and control. His reverse-sweeping against the spin of Ravindra Jadeja was a masterclass, scoring 31 runs with 12 reverse-sweeps despite the Indian spinner turning it wildly out of the rough. It was so impressive that his captain, who had been struggling to connect with his own reverse-sweeps, asked for Duckett's advice on the final afternoon.
'I actually spoke to him when we came off for that rain break,' Stokes said. 'He's one of the best in the world at reverse-sweeps, sweeps. He is a fantastic player of spin, particularly on tricky surfaces, so I had little word with him about what he thought I could look at doing a bit better to give myself a better chance against Jadeja.'
Duckett's performances at Headingley have resulted in him leaping up five spots in the ICC Test batting rankings to eighth, while he has also quietly solved one of England's long-standing problems: the search for a stable, Test opening pair alongside Zak Crawley. At Headingley, their 188-run second-innings stand was vital in setting up the run chase of a daunting 371. The pair complement each other very well: tall/short, left-hand/right-hand which poses all sorts of issues to bowlers with their line and lengths.
Crawley had the best view in the house for most of Duckett's innings on the final day and hailed it as an 'unbelievable knock'.
'People might not realise how good that knock was with the rough there for Jadeja and doing a bit with the new ball, up and down,' Crawley said. 'It was incredible, so I was just trying to get him on strike. We knew it was a fast-scoring ground, we knew we could always catch up, so we started off quite slowly and just wanted to see what the pitch was doing.
'We tried to be quite watchful and accelerate after, although Ducky did more of the accelerating than me.'
Perhaps most striking is Duckett's mental shift. Once burdened by the scrutiny of the Test arena, he now plays with an uncluttered mind encouraged by his captain and coach to keep it simple.
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He may have been seen as something of a bold selection in 2022 but now Duckett is no longer a peripheral but unrealised talent. He is undeniably becoming England's most reliable opener — and one of the few in world cricket excelling across formats. His game is still rooted in instinct, but now it is layered with intelligence and an added maturity that he admits has come with age, experience and parenthood.
'It comes from playing more Test matches and learning from mistakes,' he said, 'but also I am a dad now and I've definitely realised there is more to life.'