England’s white-ball revamp has been an anti-climax so far but Ben Duckett is optimistic exciting times are on the horizon with Brendon McCullum pulling the strings.
Duckett is one of the biggest disciples of ‘Bazball’ and for good reason, having averaged in the mid-40s since his Test recall two years ago with a strike-rate approaching 90 despite opening the batting.
Tasked with a similar role as part of a new-look ODI side, Duckett made a lively 95 off 91 balls on his home ground at Trent Bridge but England slipped to a seven-wicket loss to world champions Australia.
Duckett, though, believes England have struck gold in getting McCullum to unify the coaching roles from January, with his trusted lieutenant Marcus Trescothick overseeing the limited-overs sides until then.
“It’s almost going to be a slight breath of fresh air,” he said. “Especially with Baz taking over, I’ve been fortunate to work under him for the last couple of years and he’s taken my game to the next level.
“It’s not technical in the slightest. It’s more that fear factor and the belief you can do it against the best attacks in the world, which maybe a couple of years ago I didn’t believe I could do that.
“That’s the best way I play. If someone came in and got really technical with me and started telling me to play a certain way, it is probably not going to get the best out of me.
“He finds ways to get the best out of everyone. I think he’s going to come and do that with quite a young England ODI team. I’m hoping the next six months could look pretty exciting for English cricket.”
Duckett revealed McCullum would “probably not be too happy” with him lobbing tamely back to part-timer Marnus Labuschagne in the series-opening ODI and would be encouraged to “hit it for six next time”.
Several others were caught on the boundary, prompting stand-in captain Harry Brook to launch a robust defence of the approach, and Duckett suspects McCullum would be firmly behind the Yorkshireman.
“He’ll never criticise you for any option,” Duckett said. “He’ll never be disappointed about a shot that you play or anything like that.”
Duckett had batted at three or four in his 11 previous ODIs but was approached by managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key about opening alongside Phil Salt for the five-match series against Australia.
His participation in England’s next ODI series in the West Indies in late October and early November is in jeopardy because the Pakistan Test tour is due to conclude just a few days earlier.
But his bid to be involved in next year’s Champions Trophy could be improved by converting his half-centuries, with Duckett passing 70 four times in all formats this summer without reaching a ton.
“I feel like I’m in good touch, I’m just kind of missing that big score at the minute,” Duckett said. “I really want to go and score hundreds at the top of the order.”
After Travis Head’s 154 not out powered Australia to a 13th consecutive ODI win on Thursday, England will look to bounce back at Headingley on Saturday as they look to get their reset back on track.
Jofra Archer is likely to be rested given the tight turnaround, which Duckett admitted gives an England side light on experience at 50-over level, both domestically and internationally, little wiggle room.
“Most of us don’t play a lot of 50-over cricket now,” Duckett added. “It’s only when you are playing for England. But I think that’s something that you’ve almost got to pick up straight away.
“It didn’t feel fluent for the whole innings, but in a five-match series against Australia, you’ve got one day to kind of figure that out and move into the series now.”