In England’s tour of Bangladesh 2023, the home side won the first T20I at Chattogram by six wickets. Earlier, the English side won the three matches ODI series by 2-1 against Bangla Tigers. Adil Rashid was awarded player of the series for his eight wickets and 31 runs in 50 over format series.
Ben Duckett made a return to Jos Buttler-led England side in 20 overs format, he has been called to limited over set-up after his memorable comeback in test matches. Duckett scored 357 runs on the Pakistan tour in three Test matches, last year in December.
The left-handed batter credits his return to England’s skipper and head coach-
“It’s ridiculously different,” said the 28-year-old on the Test set-up.
“The way that they make everyone feel is something that I never thought would be the case in Test cricket. It’s almost like you’re playing a friendly, you’re actually going out and playing a Test match and it’s that relaxed, and that’s how you’re going to get players to perform at their best,” he further added.
Duckett was England’s fastest-scoring batter in the Ben Strokes-led side’s 3-0 win over Pakistan in December 2022. He had a brief taste of Test cricket in 2016, playing four matches in Bangladesh and India, but later was dropped after struggling against quality spinners and spent the last few years out of the England set-up in the longer format of the game. While Brendon McCullum is the current head coach of the England men’s cricket team.
“The first thing Baz said to me in Pakistan was: ‘Just enjoy it, you’re going to get a good run’. To hear that as an opening batsman before your first Test back makes you not nervous and you can go out there and play your way rather than looking for a score,” said Duckett.
In the recently concluded two test matches series in New Zealand, the southpaw batter scored 150 runs, and his contribution of 83 runs in the first innings of the first game was crucial for England’s victory. The series later got drawn by a 1-1 margin as the home side won the thriller at Wellington by winning it with 1 run.
“And I think the big thing in that dressing-room is – whatever the noise is outside that dressing room, no one cares. It’s everything in that dressing room and almost you’ve got that backing, it feels like there’s a squad of players now that seems like they’re going to keep for a little while, especially while things are going well,”
“Previously, you’re fearing for every single game, if you get no runs, you might get dropped the next game,” remarked England’s middle-order batter.
Defeat in our opener 😔
Runs for Jos 🏏
A special delivery from Rash 👏
🇧🇩 #BANvENG 🏴— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 9, 2023
The Nottinghamshire player is one of only four English professionals to have featured in all three formats this winter, and also it’s been quite the round-the-world trip with Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand tours.
“I’ve matured as a cricketer,” he added. “It’s realising what works for me, understanding what my strengths are. Seven years ago I might have tried to hit Shakib [Al Hasan] for six over long-on, now I know all I have to do is hit the ball in front of square leg and it’s four runs,”
“The small taste I had back then, I was very young and probably wasn’t ready. I think that comes with age and most batters are at their best when they get to the age of 28, 29,” concluded Duckett.
In the 1st T20I, Duckett scored 20 runs in 13 balls including three boundaries, in England’s 156/6 mark while batting first, in reply, the home side chased down the target easily with two overs to spare.
England and Bangladesh will clash against each other in the second T20I on March 12 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur.