Ben Duckett is intent on becoming a permanent feature at the top of England’s one-day team after marking his first appearance as opener with 95 in Thursday’s defeat to Australia in Nottingham.
Duckett, 29, has made the position his own in Test cricket, but had come in at numbers three and four in 11 previous one-day international outings. He now hopes to develop the momentum he created at Trent Bridge into Saturday’s second match of five against the world champion Australians in Leeds and towards the next global trophy: the Champions Trophy in February.
‘It felt really nice batting up the top of the order. Certainly doing it in Test cricket, the white ball doesn’t move around quite as much and it is somewhere I’ve always wanted to bat, but somewhere I’ve never found I could get in,’ Duckett said.
‘I’m obviously really happy I’ve started started well and will hopefully go and play a match-winning knock next game.
‘Obviously there’s a lot of cricket coming up over the next few months, starting with this 50-over stuff and hopefully by the end of the series I’ll be in a strong position.’
Ben Duckett has set his sights on an ODI opening spot to match his position in the Test side
He impressed for his 95 in the first ODI clash with Australia on Thursday before a soft dismissal
The promotion of the left-hander is a sign of the increased homogeny expected between Test and 50-over teams now Brendon McCullum is assuming supreme coaching control this winter.
‘I think that’s a really good thing. I think it has probably been two completely different squads the last few years, with a slight overlap, and certainly the coaching staff coming in now and Baz taking over, it’s going to be a slight breath of fresh air,’ Duckett continued.
‘I’ve been fortunate to work under him for the last couple of years and he’s taken my game to the next level. He finds ways to get the best out of everyone. I’m hoping that the next six months could look pretty exciting for English cricket.’
England head into the second match at Headingley on Saturday morning, under the stand-in captaincy of local boy Harry Brook, having failed to capitalise on a dominant position of 170 for two at the halfway stage of their innings in game one.
Frustratingly, with Australia missing their key bowling weapons Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood through illness, and one of their understudies Ben Dwarshuis off the field injured, a batting implosion that saw them lose eight wickets for 102 came against spin, and part-time spin in the cases of wrecker-in-chief Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head, who later hit an unbeaten 154 – the biggest ODI score by an Australian in this country.
‘I think we got lots right. They potentially were very strong in the moments they won the game. We were in a position to maybe go and get 350 or 360, which could have been a different game,’ said Duckett.
England capitulated from 170 for two to 315 all out, before Travis Head’s 154 not out took the visitors to victory
‘And then if we take one more wicket in the powerplay, which is Travis Head, we’d have been right in to win that game.’
England will make a call on whether fast bowler Jofra Archer plays back to back matches – the fact he only bowled six overs in Nottingham suggests he has not been over-exerted – while the Australians will hope Starc, Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell have recovered from a sickness bug.
