Few English summers can have echoed so often to the claim that “the penny has dropped” as 2026. In Ben Duckett’s case, though, the phrase carries more weight than a familiar cricketing cliché.
Two days before England’s first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s — and 48 hours after Brydon Carse was placed in handcuffs outside a nightclub in Derby — Joe Root addressed the dressing room on the standards expected of England players. Duckett listened, then felt compelled to add his own message.
In many respects, it was the next logical step in his England career. Of the side due to walk out at Edgbaston on Wednesday, only Root is older and more experienced than Duckett, who turns 32 next month and has 48 caps to his name. Like it or not, he has become one of the team’s senior figures.
‘In those situations, anyone can talk,’ Duckett tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘But from someone who’s been in situations like that, who’s let the group down, let the country down, it felt important for me.
‘Rooty can’t speak on behalf of everyone all the time. He’s England captain right now and he’s taking a lot of stick in the media on behalf of England cricket. It’s up to me, Brooky and a few of the other guys to take some of that off his plate and help lead as much as we can.’
It’s possible that no English summer has generated as many uses of the phrase ‘the penny has dropped’ than 2026 – but for Ben Duckett it feels like more than a cliche
‘Joe’s taking a lot of stick in the media on behalf of England cricket. It’s up to me, Brooky and a few of the other guys to take some of that off his plate and help lead as much as we can’
What exactly did Duckett say to his team-mates in the Lord’s dressing room? ‘Don’t do what I did in Noosa’?
He laughs: ‘No, not at all. You know, I didn’t actually break any rules. It was more that this was the moment where we just need to move forward. It’s about showing what it means for us to play for England.’
If it seems strange after the events of the winter that Root even needed to remind the players of their wider responsibilities, Duckett concedes it was ‘probably necessary’.
But he adds: ‘All this stuff off the field only concerns probably five per cent of the group. It’s the team, the management, everyone involved, who get all the stick, but it’s only been a few different people who have put us in these situations, and I spoke about being one of them.
‘I think we have moved past it. The fans want to see us winning games and series, and that’s the easiest thing to put right. The rest of it’s going to come in time, and people are probably going to be on our case for a little while. Rightly so: we’ve made that very easy for them.’
Duckett believes he confirmed his dedication to the cause by turning down a £200,000 deal with Delhi Capitals in the IPL in March, and committing himself to his red-ball game after a difficult Ashes. His reward was a superb century against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in a summer where everyone has found runs hard to come by.
‘I could very easily have gone to the IPL, earned a bit more money, come back to England pretty tired and not scored that Test hundred,’ he says.
Duckett turned down a £200,000 deal with Delhi Capitals in March to work on his red-ball game and was rewarded with a century against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in June
‘My biggest advice for Emilio Gay (right) is don’t try to be anyone else. He’s been picked for a reason: the way he bats, the time he bats, the hundreds he scores’
‘Ultimately, those decisions should show people how much it means to play for England. I’ve got zero regrets. I want to play as many games as I can for England, and that’s my priority.’
Duckett should win his 50th cap against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on December 17, but the question is whether his opening partner will still be Emilio Gay, whose first five Tests this summer have brought him two gutsy half-centuries but an average of just 23.
‘It’s tough,’ says Duckett, ‘because I certainly wouldn’t want to come in at the start of my career and bat on the pitches we have done this summer.’
Speaking from a seat in Edgbaston’s Hollies Stand, he gestures out to the middle, where groundstaff are putting together the finishing touches on a pitch that is browner than the grassy surfaces which helped England bulldoze Pakistan at Headingley and Lord’s.
‘This could be a big week to go and put a big score on the board and showcase what he can do. My biggest advice for Emilio is don’t try to be anyone else. He’s been picked for a reason: the way he bats, the time he bats, the hundreds he scores. So I said to him: “Just play the exact way you got into this team.”’
Duckett says his age and experience have helped him deal with the challenge of forming a new opening relationship after three years with Zak Crawley – just as they helped him move on from the disappointment of an Ashes series in which he averaged only 20 with a top score of 42.
‘I’m batting at the top of the order against the best bowlers every time I go out there,’ he says. ‘Maybe the Ashes would have affected me more if I were younger. I’d have probably lost belief.
‘But I walked out there and faced Mitchell Starc bowling 93mph from the first Test to the last, and if you looked through most of my innings, I was in good positions and I was hitting the ball well. I just didn’t go on to get a big score.’
Duckett was speaking to Daily Mail Sport at a Tyrrells event at Edgbaston. Tyrrells are the official snack partner of the England men’s and women’s Test teams
The 31-year-old isn’t going to change the methods that have brought him nearly 3,500 Test runs at a tick under 39 and at a strike rate of 86
Above all, he isn’t going to change the methods that have brought him nearly 3,500 Test runs at a tick under 39 and at a strike rate of 86.
‘If I tried to be someone else in… let’s call it a new era, then I don’t think I’d perform as well. I know at the age I am how I’m going to get the best out of myself.’
Ben Duckett was speaking at a Tyrrells event at Edgbaston. Tyrrells Crisps are proud to be Official Snacks Partner of England Cricket. Visit tyrrellscrisps.co.uk.