Ben Duckett Finds a Way Back After a Tough Inception to Test Cricket in the Subcontinent

Ben Duckett’s career seemed to have ended the moment it began. On his first go with the English team, he looked all at sea while facing spin in the subcontinent. To put it simply, he was a walking wicket. In his first four Tests, he was dismissed by spin in all of his seven appearances to the crease. 12 months ago, Ben Duckett was under the impression that he may not get a chance to add to his four test caps.

Last year though, with England struggling in Test Cricket, Ben Duckett’s name started doing the rounds. England tried a fair few opener in the period, and thoughts of Duckett adding to his four test matches seemed likely. He didn’t light up the county championship that season, but the struggles of England left him in the circles.

In 2022 though, a change in leadership and coaching saw England change their approach to Test Cricket. The team began to play Test cricket with a lot more positivity and this helps Ben Duckett. A good season of positive cricket for the English team coincided with a good county season for Ben Duckett. In 2022, Duckett played first class cricket with an average and strike-rate both in the 70s. His positivity at the top looks very promising and this is what could have impressed the pair of Ben Stokes and Brendan McCullum.

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After struggling to play spin, Ben Duckett looks set to partner Zak Crawley at the top, six years on from his tough start. To his fortune, this time around he will be playing in Pakistan. While his game against spin has improved, Pakistan may not be the greatest test for his technique against spin. The tracks in Pakistan are known to help pacers a little more, and tend to be very dry and lifeless.

Another aspect of luck for him is the management. The Ben Stokes-Brendan McCullum pair are known to give their players time to settle in. Zak Crawley, despite a string of low scores is still around and is slowly starting to deliver. The same goes with Ollie Pope who is looking very good now. At 28, Duckett is a lot more experienced than them and that should help him maintain his composure.

He has also seen success in Pakistan just recently, in a different format. Ben Duckett played the seven T20Is earlier in the year and had a good time, which should help him find some confidence. He now has a chance of extending his brief and small Test record. He will be backed, and this time he will come out as an opener, with a job on hand against the Pakistan pace attack. He loves taking on the bowlers and that should allow him to Mould his game according to the requirements of the current English set-up.