Ben Duckett

"I'm not the most focused person and can lose concentration in quite a lot of things. But, right now, scoring runs is the most important thing in life”, that’s Ben Duckett for you. An explosive wicket-keeper batsman whose career has undergone several crests and troughs. Duckett is a quality stroke-maker and a rare Englishman who plays spin well, apart from bashing the pacers out of the stadium. 

Duckett is a product of the Buckinghamshire independent school system and became a part of the Northamptonshire youth set-up when he was 11, soon graduated to the First XI side by the age of 17. On debut, the southpaw scored an unbeaten fifty to showcase his credentials and then received a call-up to the Northants Twenty20 side in 2013.

The Kent-born was part of England’s scheme of things for the 2014 U-19 World Cup and played a crucial role in the quarterfinal game against India and the third-place match against Australia. Post the Junior World Cup, Duckett saw a troublesome time at the start of 2015 as he was omitted from the pre-season Barbados tour due to poor fitness levels, before getting banned for driving under influence, later that season.

However, the potent batsman starred in the following season when he scored a double-hundred in a 50-over game for England Lions. Duckett scored 2,706 runs in all formats and missed Marcus Trescothick's record of 2934 runs narrowly. His success in the domestic circles meant a national call-up for the tour of Bangladesh and India, where he made his Test and ODI debuts against the hosts. On his maiden tour, Duckett, who was remarked as one of the best to play spin, was tested on rank turners. In 2017, the southpaw found himself in another controversy when poured a whole pint on James Anderson to get suspended from the Australian tour. 

The promising youngster made another international comeback in 2019, after establishing himself as one of the most prolific cross-format batsmen in county cricket. He made his maiden T20I appearance against Pakistan but didn’t have a dream debut. Later that next season, he shifted his base to Nottinghamshire when he signed a four-year contract. In 2021, Duckett was picked by Welsh Fire for the inaugural edition of the Hundred. Once taunted “panache, impish ingenuity, confidence and courage”, Duckett has all the ingredients to become an all-format future star for England. 

(As of April 2021)