Ben Duckett

• Profile

Enigmatic, enthralling and exciting, 2022 is surely the season that hard-hitting Nottinghamshire southpaw Ben Duckett adds focus to his flair.

His career highlights point in the right direction. Ben scored four centuries in the 2015 County Championship for Northamptonshire to break the 1,000-run mark for the first time, but it was 2016 that made everyone really sit up and take notice.

Aged just 21, Ben set a new personal high score of 282* as well as notching 185, 189 and 205 to earn an impressive 1,338 runs and help Northamptonshire to a Twenty20 Blast win. His performances saw Ben named as the PCA’s Young Cricketer and Cricket of the Year – the first man to win both awards in the same season.

Internationally, Ben is one of only two Englishmen able to boast an Under-19 World Cup Finals batting average of more than 60; the score included a Man-of-the-Match 61 against India in the QF and a century as England beat Australia for third place. For the Lions, in the space of a week, Ben scored 163* against Pakistan A and then 220* off just 131 balls against Sri Lanka A - a Lions List A record. Ben has also featured at the highest level, appearing in four Tests, three ODIs and one T20I for England.

Back in the county game, Ben signed for Nottinghamshire in 2019 and wasted little time: his 200 from 168 balls was the quickest first-class double century by a Nottinghamshire batsman. In 2020, his white-ball expertise was on full display as Ben hit 340 runs on the way to helping his new county lift the T20 Blast crown. In 2021, Ben extended his reputation across all formats, scoring freely in the Vitality Blast while also totting up his county’s highest score of the season, 177*, against Worcestershire.

Follow Ben on Instagram @BenDuckett1