Not Brendon McCullum Or Ben Stokes, England Great Points Out Star At The 'Heart' Of Bazball

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