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Ben Duckett looks for opportunities as England begin new white-ball era

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Ben Duckett looks for opportunities as England begin new white-ball era


After the disaster of the ODI World Cup, the time has come for England to pull down their pants, turn them inside out and put them back on. It’s time to reset the cue ball.

The curiosity of the latest reconstruction, however, is that the message that it is a reconstruction seems to come more from the outside than from the inside. Yes, there is a new group of players in the Caribbean, but players like Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid are still sitting at home resting and recovering, ready (retirement announcements pending) to claim their place in the Caribbean. equipment.

“There hasn’t been that message,” Ben Duckett said after England’s first training session in Antigua, in response to whether the message to the group was that this is the new era, with the shirts they play in being theirs to keep. . .

“I need to go and prove that I’m good enough to be in this team and so do the other guys, so I don’t think that’s the case at all, this team could change the next series.”

Rather than being a new team at the start of its own journey, like the original White-Ball Reset™ of 2015, the England team that will set out for the first of three ODIs against the West Indies on Sunday will do so in a few The Hunger Games. type scenario. Fighting for somewhere in the XI at the expense of his teammates to his left and right. England’s next strongest ODI team may well look suspiciously similar to the last.

Take as an example the expected first three of this tour: consisting of Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Zak Crawley. England fans can expect both Bairstow and Root to return to the ODI set-up in due course, meaning the trio are actually fighting for the top spot left vacant by the fall of Dawid Malan.
Similarly, Duckett and Ollie Pope can be grouped together as the two players were lined up to replace Ben Stokes, assuming Stokes does indeed reduce his overall workload and step away from ODIs in the wake of this week’s knee surgery. . Duckett batted for hours during the first training session of the England tour, while Pope had a seemingly pain-free net as he returned from the shoulder injury he suffered during the Ashes. A cause for slight concern, however, was that during fielding practice, Pope threw exclusively underarm while he continued to nurse his shoulder back into top shape. England confirmed that Pope is fit to play if he is selected, but his shoulder is clearly not 100% yet.
“I’m really thinking about the next three weeks,” said Duckett, who scored his first ODI century against Ireland in September, with the prospect of this being a career-defining series for several players. “I know how difficult it is to stay in a team when there are so many players and I think the most important thing I have learned in the last 12 to 15 months is not to think too much about the future.

“I just think it’s a great opportunity to show what we can do. “I’ve been around and not around the white-ball group for the last few years and it’s been impossible to get in, so for me personally I’m just looking forward to trying and being here. “.

At a time when traditional logic dictates that the three formats are moving further and further apart, for England it appears to be the opposite. The new generation of white-ball players, who are seen as taking this team forward, include the current Test opening pair in Duckett and Crawley, Test vice-captain in Pope and generational talent-elect Harry Brook. Even with the ball, Gus Atkinson, who has been given a two-year contract by the ECB, is surely included in England’s plans for the India Test series, as is tall left-arm spinner Tom Hartley. The new faces shown here are largely those currently in the Test side or those with multi-format aspirations.

Duckett himself was in fact waiting for Stokes throughout the World Cup, in case the Test captain’s knee gave way completely: “I didn’t even think about it.” [to be honest]. There was no way Stokesy was going to miss it. He would have survived with a limp and still scored runs.”

A cynic might argue that, for people like Duckett, missing the World Cup was a blessing in disguise. A chance to emerge unscathed from the ashes (not those), ready to take the team forward.

“I don’t think it’s a good time to miss a World Cup. It might be the only chance I have. So certainly not that way. That same group of players could go out and win that World Cup in a moment. In a moment different. It was hard to watch at times and I’m watching my teammates go out and fight. It was really hard.

“[But] For me personally, I’ve had six weeks to take a breather (it’s been a big 12 months for me) and it might actually be quite refreshing. “I really want to go now.”

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