Ben Duckett: England batter determined to seize opportunity to play across all three formats | Cricket News

Ben Duckett says he is determined to seize every opportunity possible to represent England, insisting he can play across all three formats despite increasingly conflicting schedule demands.

Duckett is now established in the England Test team as an opening batter, though his efforts in the recent tour of New Zealand meant he was ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh, which started barely 24 hours following the thrilling finale in Wellington.

The left-handed batter is without any type of central contract, so he could have chosen to play the T20 Pakistan Super League, which is also taking place at the same time.

However, after a few days off in Dubai, Duckett travelled to Bangladesh and, roughly 48 hours after touching down and following just a couple of net sessions, he was thrust into the team for the first of three T20 internationals against the Tigers on Thursday.

Sunday 12th March 8:30am

“I’ve got the chance to play potentially all three formats for England,” Duckett said. “That’s going to be my focus for as long as I’m in the squad.

“You can play in all these leagues around the world in a few years’ time but, right now, I’m solely focused on playing as much for England as I can.

“Don’t get me wrong, if I’ve got a month next winter, and I’m getting offered a lot of money, I’m probably going to go and play in it, as most of us would.

“I’d rather play cricket, and especially playing in different countries and learning different things. But being able to actually make decisions on this is something I wouldn’t have thought I’d have had the opportunity to do two years ago.”

Duckett is back in the country where his international career began seven years ago, playing in three ODIs and two Tests before a loss of form on the subsequent tour of India led to him falling down the pecking order.

He has grasped his second chance with appearances in all three formats this winter, with his latest showing a cameo of 20 off 13 balls before being bowled by Mustafizur Rahman in England’s six-wicket loss in Thursday’s series opener.

Duckett, who along with the rest of the England squad arrived in Mirpur on Friday for the final two games, has averaged 56.44 since being restored to the Test side.

He is clearly thriving under the transformational leadership of captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum and is almost certain to open the batting in this summer’s eagerly-anticipated Ashes.

“It’s almost like you’re playing a friendly,” he said of the side’s bold approach to the longest format. “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.

“The big thing in that dressing room is whatever the noise is outside of that dressing room, no one cares about it. It’s everything in that dressing room and you’ve got that backing.”

England suffered a rare blip last time out, going down by a solitary run against the Black Caps in Wellington, but even with the tension at its peak, Duckett revealed there was no shift in behaviour from the laid-back McCullum.

“I do remember at tea, Brendon said ‘let’s go out there and bat for a draw in the last session’,” Duckett added. “Obviously, he was joking but that’s just how relaxed it is.

“Straight after the game, we might have had a couple of words and then it was straight into playing [football] with the New Zealand boys on the outfield, having a few drinks.

“It’s just an extremely relaxed environment. Baz doesn’t say much, but when he does say something we all listen.”

Watch England’s three-match ODI tour of Bangladesh live on Sky Sports and stream on NOW TV.