Ben Duckett has opened up on the late-night video in which he was slurring his words during England’s mid-Ashes trip to Noosa – admitting it was unprofessional but insisting the backlash was worse because he was on the losing side.
Duckett recently revealed he had pulled out of his £200,000 IPL deal with Delhi Capitals in order to play red-ball cricket for Nottinghamshire in April and May and cement his place as a Test opener.
Both and Zak Crawley face pressure for their places after disappointing tours of Australia in which they averaged 20 and 27 respectively in a 4–1 defeat.
Asked if he was concerned about his Test place, Duckett replied: ‘I don’t know. You tell me.’
But he was more forthcoming on the question of Noosa, when an England fan filmed him after a few drinks and the footage went viral, sparking criticism of the tourists’ attitude with Australia 2–0 up with three to play.
‘It’s not something any professional sportsman should be doing,’ he said. ‘I think it’s a fine line in terms of the timing: it seemed like it was like the day before a Test or something.
Ben Duckett has opened up on the late-night video in which he was slurring his words during England’s mid-Ashes trip to Noosa and has admitted it was unprofessional
Duckett appeared to be drunk in the clip and it quickly went viral on social media
‘Ultimately, we were having a break which was planned before the series. And if we’re winning that series, it’s probably not news, and no one cares if [Australia opener] Travis Head’s in that video: everyone’s probably absolutely loving it. And that is sport.
‘We were struggling as a side, I was struggling as a player. But you shouldn’t be putting yourself in a position like that, to be honest – any human being, let alone a professional sportsman. That was a really tough period for me, and it certainly wasn’t my favourite Christmas I’ve had in my life.
‘But the one thing looking back on it was the support I had from the ECB. It was not what they needed. I thank Keysy, Baz, Stokes for all the support. I did hold my hands up, but I’m not very proud of it.
Duckett said he and the Test team want to regain the trust of the English public following criticism not only of the Ashes tour but also of the decision to stick with head coach Brendon McCullum.
‘Hopefully we’ll just see over time how much playing for England means for us,’ he said.
‘This is not why I’ve done it, but pulling out of the IPL, turning down a good chunk of money, turning down opportunity to play with and against some of the best players in the world, to be here playing for Notts… I think that’s a good step in the right direction of how much playing cricket for England means to me personally.’
