Duckett eager to show hunger for England success after Ashes flop

Ben Duckett is determined to show just how important playing for England is to him following a woeful Ashes campaign.

England have insisted they are ready to adapt under coach Brendon McCullum, who remains in charge despite a 4-1 series loss in Australia marred by poor preparation and off-field incidents that led to questions about the team’s professionalism.

Opening batsman Duckett, who averaged 20.2 in Australia with a top score of just 42, was also filmed seemingly drunk during a controversial mid-series break in Noosa.

“I wasn’t proud of how things went in Australia,” Duckett said on Friday. “Hopefully, moving forward, we’ll just see over time how much playing for England means for us.”

Duckett has pulled the plug on a six-figure IPL deal to play for title-holders Nottinghamshire in the County Championship, prioritising his England place ahead of home Test series against New Zealand and Pakistan.

“This is not why I’ve done it but pulling out of the IPL, turning down a good chunk of money and missing the opportunity to play with and against some of the best players in the world to be here playing for Notts is a step in the right direction to show how much playing cricket for England means to me personally,” he said.

“I genuinely don’t know whether I’ll be in the England team for the first Test (against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4), but I’ll do everything I can over the next four or five weeks to be in the best shape of my life.”

Australia’s Travis Head — who scored over 600 runs in the Ashes series including three hundreds — labelled the reaction to 31-year-old left-hander’s Duckett’s conduct in Noosa “a bit stiff”.

“If we were winning it probably wouldn’t have been news and nobody would have cared,” said Duckett. “If it had been Travis Head in that video, people are probably loving it.”

“We were struggling as a side and I was struggling as a player so I shouldn’t have put myself in a position like that. That goes for any human being, let alone a professional sportsman,” insisted Duckett.

“I think it’s no secret that we can definitely tighten up on some areas… and to be honest, I’m all for it.”