{"id":212776,"date":"2025-06-25T09:26:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T09:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/212776\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T09:26:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T09:26:21","slug":"the-genius-behind-ben-duckett-and-an-england-innings-that-twisted-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/212776\/","title":{"rendered":"The genius behind Ben Duckett and an England innings that twisted reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ben Duckett<\/a> reverse swept once, twice, three times. And eventually 12.<\/p>\n

A modern man, conquering the most traditional role in Test cricket \u2013 opening the batting \u2013 in the least traditional of ways. With that shot alone, he made 31 runs. In total, he made 149 as he guided England to their second-highest run chase in history.<\/p>\n

Duckett, whose highest score remains 182 against Ireland in 2023, has quietly, and consistently, built a record that places him in the upper echelons of England\u2019s greatest openers. In a batting line-up where Joe Root <\/a>and Ben Stokes<\/a>\u2019s legends are already made, where Harry Brook is the next generational talent elect, where Zak Crawley<\/a> and Ollie Pope<\/a> spend their lives under a microscope, Duckett\u2019s consistency at the top of the order has gone, if not unnoticed, underappreciated. <\/p>\n

Since his return to the Test side in 2022, he has averaged 47 with a strike rate of 88. In terms of average, it is higher than either Alastair Cook or Andrew Strauss managed. The last two men to nail the role of opener in an England shirt both ended up taking one knee in front of the Queen, knighted for their efforts. As a strike rate, it is higher than Virender Sehwag\u2019s. The man widely considered to be the greatest aggressive opener in history. <\/p>\n

In 2025, it may seem too early, hyperbolic even, to put Duckett\u2019s name in the same bracket as the greats. But continue as he has been since his return to the side, and by 2035 it\u2019ll have been there for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a quality player,\u201d was his captain Ben Stokes\u2019 assessment at the close. \u201csuch a hard person to bowl to with the new ball.I love the way that his natural game is to look to score and put bowlers under pressure from ball one. Ducky has been incredible since coming into the team and he’s shown he can score runs pretty much all over the world in any conditions he’s faced with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendon McCullum\u2019s team have twisted reality to the point that arriving at Headingley<\/a> on day five, with 350 runs still required for victory, England\u2019s pursuit of the second-highest chase in their history felt eminently possible rather than the opinion of a madman. These run chases didn’t happen even three years ago. The dial has been turned. And this England team is the reason.<\/p>\n

Along with Crawley, Duckett gave England their dream start. The 50 partnership between the two came in the 17th over of the innings \u2013 the slowest they\u2019ve ever shared as a pair \u2013 but in murky, bowler-friendly conditions, it was perfect. <\/p>\n

\"Player<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Player of the Match Ben Duckett poses after England’s win over India (Getty)<\/p>\n

Duckett, watchful, punched the ball airily off the bowling of Mohammed Siraj. It dropped just in front of the fielder before skipping past him and away for four. Duckett celebrated with a mini fist pump to himself.<\/p>\n

Duckett\u2019s strength lies in his versatility. Against fast bowlers, he hits the same ball in three different directions. And against the spinners, he has an arsenal of sweeps to call upon. Sometimes he keeps his hands the same on the bat. Sometimes he swaps them over. Sometimes he steps forward with his right foot. And sometimes he swaps round and leads with his left. <\/p>\n

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The crowning shot of Duckett\u2019s innings was his reverse sweep for six off Ravindra Jadeja that sailed into the East Stand. But his best was his on-drive against Jasprit Bumrah. The greatest bowler in the world, greeted with a perfect technique.<\/p>\n

\"Duckett<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Duckett departs having been dismissed off the bowling of Shardul Thakur (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe definitely knows how good it was,\u201d Stokes added simply of whether Duckett, himself, will be aware of the scale of his own achievement.<\/p>\n

People often talk about footwork when it comes to batting. But as the pace goes up in cricket, the opportunity for players to make large movements either forwards or backwards disappears. At the highest level, there simply isn\u2019t time. <\/p>\n

Instead, batting becomes about weight transfer. Subtle shifts that allow batters to manipulate their stance and access all areas. Duckett, short in stature, rarely, if ever, moves his feet. Crouched low in his stance, he cuts anything slightly wide. He pulls anything slightly short. And drives anything remotely full. He is a call-and-response cricketer with the answers pre-loaded before the ball has even arrived.<\/p>\n

\"Duckett<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Duckett in action at Headingley (Action Images\/Reuters)<\/p>\n

Duckett\u2019s talents have made him an all-format England opener, and further the case that he is one of England\u2019s most complete batters. Only he and Harry Brook command a spot in all three XIs. In ODI cricket, Duckett\u2019s average is even higher than it is in Tests, standing at 49. And since becoming the undisputed first-choice opener in 2024, it is 56.<\/p>\n

Headingley is the home of the run chase. One of the very first Bazball chases happened here in 2022 when England blitzed 296 for three against New Zealand; Shai Hope\u2019s twin tons downed England in 2017; and a little-known cricketer named Ben Stokes made 135 not out two years ago against Australia when England hauled in 362. <\/p>\n

\"Duckett<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Duckett reverse sweeps against India (Getty)<\/p>\n

Today, Duckett added his name to that list with one of the greatest innings played in an England shirt. Eighteen months ago, England went one-nil up in a series against India after Pope made 196 in the \u201cHeist of Hyderabad\u201d. That innings felt like a miracle. The perfect combination of a thousand factors coming together. Duckett\u2019s innings today, rather than a miracle, felt like a coming of age. The next step for a player who is making his legend in front of our eyes. <\/p>\n

In India\u2019s history, they have only failed to defend a target of north of 350 twice. The first time was in England in 2022 when the home team chased in 378. And the second was today in their very next match on these shores. <\/p>\n

In total, four of England\u2019s 10 highest successful run chases in Test history have come during the Bazball era. And the man leading from the front is Ben Duckett. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4101],"tags":[1406,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-212776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-cricket","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114743291947127549","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}