Former England captain Nasser Hussain said Ben Duckett’s astonishing knock of 86 on day one of the third Test against Sri Lanka was yet another example of why the left-handed opener is at the heart of the side’s risk-taking attitude while batting.
At The Oval, Duckett set the tone for England making 221/3 by hitting nine fours and two sixes in a 79-ball 86 to leave Sri Lanka dazed. “Let’s be honest, Sri Lanka were poor. It was almost like they’d never bowled to a left-hand, right-hand combination before, but Duckett never let them settle at all.”
“They kept bowling on the legs early on, or even outside the line of the pads, and then when they over-corrected, they were short and wide. Where does Duckett like the ball the most? Short and wide outside off-stump. He put them to the sword.”
“Later, after the rain delay, he started scooping and upper-cutting fours and sixes. Yes, scooping was his downfall in the end, but so be it, because it is his role in the side. I like his attitude because there have been plenty of opening batters before him that have come unstuck when not playing shots.”
“Sometimes coaches over-talk. One of yesteryear might have asked: why did you play that shot? A hundred was there for the taking. Not Brendon McCullum, though. They have an ingrained attitude to risk taking and Duckett is at the heart of it,” wrote Hussain in his column for Daily Mail on Saturday.
He also talked about how Duckett is different from other England batters as he attacks balls outside off-stump rather than leaving them. “By the time he had added 86 runs to his tally, Duckett had swelled his tally of balls played at this series to 197 of 198.”
“Contrast that to players like Graham Gooch and Michael Atherton, two more predecessors as England openers who would ignore deliveries outside off-stump and make the bowlers bowl in areas they wanted them to. Or compare Duckett to any other modern Test opener for that matter. There is literally daylight between him and the rest.”
“His career leave percentage is 1.7%, making him nearly five times as likely to play than Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique, the next man on the list with 8.3%. India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal is next with 8.9%. Also consider that Dom Sibley and Rory Burns, two of the openers in the previous England regime, boasted 25.3% and 21.5% respectively.”
“When everything is in the bowlers’ favour, that is exactly how the England team management want him, Duckett to play – putting pressure back on the opposition. Leaving might be a high percentage choice for others. Not him. He always sticks to his guns.”
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Hussain signed off by suggesting Australia will use Duckett’s attacking instincts to outside off-stump balls as a point to exploit but felt the batter won’t change his style of playing down under during the Ashes.
“With batsmen, however, your strengths can also be your weaknesses and I expect Australia to play on this in next year’s Ashes. They will bowl at fourth stump, with a deep point, because they know that he hits it there a lot.”
“Equally, if a player is playing that kind of shot every ball – with the extra bounce on Australian surfaces – they could nick off. But I can’t see him changing. He will give it a go and that aligns with the constant messaging from the England dressing room.”
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“If a player scores runs with a particular shot, they do not want them to put it away if they get out to it. He got out reverse sweeping at Lord’s last week; scooping this. They just want it played better next time,” Hussain added.
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