Ben Duckett insisted England’s humbling experiences in India and at the Champions Trophy in Pakistan “hurt me so much” and he hopes they can make amends this summer.
England lost 10 out of 11 white-ball matches since the turn of the year, including all three at the Champions Trophy to finish bottom of their group, triggering the resignation of Jos Buttler as captain.
As England’s approach came under scrutiny, Duckett raised eyebrows during a 3-0 ODI series clean sweep to India by claiming: “I do not care as long as we beat them in the final of the Champions Trophy.”
Managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key accepted England players occasionally speak “rubbish” to avoid upsetting the dressing room and Duckett was adamant that results do matter to them.
“All we want to do is win,” the opener said.
“If you were to put a camera in the dressing room after every single loss in India and at the Champions Trophy, you’d see a group of lads who were distraught.
“I think sometimes the way we play and stuff might look like we don’t care, but there’s a lot that goes into it behind the scenes with (head coach) Baz (Brendon McCullum) and the coaches.
“There’s so much more to it and moving forward now, it might look a little bit different. I don’t think the way that we’ll play will be different but we want to win games.
“For me, those two months in India and Pakistan, they hurt me so much. I want to win everything, I do. We’ve got an opportunity to put it right and have a really good summer and win lots of games.”
After a hectic past 12 months in all formats, Duckett is set to miss the early part of the Rothesay County Championship with a view to be firing on all cylinders for a five-Test series against India.
“Nothing’s set in stone at the minute,” Duckett said.
“It’s always a slightly tricky place to be because where I’m at in my career is a big thanks to Nottinghamshire. You always want to repay them.
“I’ve had a coffee with (head coach Peter) Moores and made a plan. He gets it – I haven’t stopped for a while and I think my body was hanging on at the Champions Trophy.
“I want to be raring to go come that first Test against India and to be in a very good head space for that.”
Duckett has temporarily deleted his X, formerly Twitter, account after his comments about a possible battle with India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah were recycled and misinterpreted on the social media platform.
“If you ask me about Jasprit Bumrah, I’d say, right now, he’s probably the toughest bowler to face in the world,” Duckett said at Nottinghamshire’s media day on Monday.
“It’s been an interesting week but I think for me, right now, being off Twitter is the right thing for me and it’s a lot easier life being off Twitter.”
