In the afterglow of England’s phenomenal run chase against India at Headingley, Ben Duckett is rightly being lauded as the best all-format batter in the world right now.
The opener’s sensational 149 on the final day in Leeds that inspired his team’s successful pursuit of 371 was the finest moment of his career to date.
Yet it’s entirely probable that in previous, less-forgiving eras, Duckett would never have got his shot at redemption after an initial, failed foray into Test cricket nine years ago.
That’s because in December 2017, he became the unwitting lightning rod for criticism of an England regime that had been accused of being out of control during a crisis-ridden Ashes tour after he was suspended and banned for pouring a drink over James Anderson in Perth’s notorious Avenue Bar.
It's a CENTURY for Ben Duckett pic.twitter.com/yB78yo3PfF
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 24, 2025
This is the same venue where, a couple of weeks earlier, Jonny Bairstow had been accused of headbutting Australia’s Cameron Bancroft – a fabrication designed to damage England in the wake of Ben Stokes’s Bristol street fight the previous September that had resulted in him being banned from the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
It made no difference that Anderson had invited Duckett to pour the drink on his head.
Trevor Bayliss, then England’s head coach, said: “It’s a fairly trivial incident, but, in the current climate, it’s just not acceptable.”
Duckett, 23 at the time, was in Australia with England Lions, who were playing a tour match against the Ashes squad.
Having played four Tests the previous winter in Bangladesh and India, averaging just 15.71, it was a chance to impress.
It didn’t help, though, when in a separate incident Duckett vomited on Bayliss during a flight.
Speaking to The Final Word podcast last year, Duckett admitted of that winter: “It was one of those things where it feels like your world’s ending.
Duckett’s Test career began inauspiciously before the James Anderson incident (Photo: Getty)“Dealing with what I had to deal with probably made me a little bit more resilient and a bit tougher.”
It took a change of counties, a resurgence in form and regime change at the top of the English game for Duckett to be handed a second crack at Test cricket in the winter of 2022.
If any of those three variables had been different, it’s doubtful whether he would be in the England team now.
Moving from Northamptonshire to Nottinghamshire in 2018 was key, with Peter Moores, Duckett’s coach at Trent Bridge, telling BBC Test Match Special this week: “He wanted a fresh start and to reinvent himself a little bit. He’s always been a hugely talented lad.”
Duckett spent the winter of 2019-20 in the indoor nets at Trent Bridge in an attempt to take his game to the next level.
“I think that was a bit of a moment for him. He’d just been with us a year and had some success, but also not the consistency he wanted,” Moores said.
“He then came back after a winter doing the work and was our Player of the Season.”
Duckett found a new lease of life at Nottinghamshire after that difficult time in Australia (Photo: Getty)It would take another two years for Duckett to return to Test cricket, with head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes calling him up for the tour of Pakistan in late 2022.
Since then, Duckett has averaged 47 in Tests, scored six centuries and established himself in England’s white-ball teams, with his 165 from 143 balls in a losing cause against Australia at the Champions Trophy in February underlining his importance across all formats.
“The change in regime suited Ben,” said Moores. “It came at the right time, with Ben Stokes, Brendon, [managing director of England cricket] Rob Key coming in. He’s somebody Rob’s really liked all the way through.”
And it is the Bazball regime that has allowed Duckett to flourish. Speaking during England’s tour of Pakistan last October, the 30-year-old said: “I haven’t changed the way I’ve played coming into this side.
“I think that’s probably why I’ve had the success I’ve had. I’ve got full backing from Baz and Stokes. If I want to go and switch-hit the third ball I face, there’s no punishment if I get out.”
Duckett was named Player of the Match for his contribution in Leeds against India (Photo: Getty)Duckett is a different man from the one who hit rock bottom in Australia eight years ago – watching him with his baby daughter, Margot, on the Headingley outfield after his heroics against India illustrated that.
He has a chance to create some happy memories of Australia during this winter’s Ashes.
Before then, though, we should just enjoy watching a player at the top of his game this summer.
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