England opener throws hat in the ring for ‘dream’ captaincy role

Tuesday, 25 March 2025 00:36 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ben Duckett

With Jos Buttler having stepped down as the white-ball skipper, England are on a lookout for his successor following a dismal ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.

England’s Champions Trophy campaign ended without a win and white-ball skipper Jos Buttler stepping down from the role mid-way through the tournament after a string of dismal performances from the ODI side.

With Buttler’s successor yet to be named, opener Ben Duckett, who was among the runs at the recently concluded Champions Trophy, has admitted it would be a dream assignment to take over.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Duckett said: “To captain England would obviously be a dream. I don’t think it’s on the radar but I don’t know that, which is why I am answering like that. We will see what happens moving forward and what decisions are made. I am just pretty happy playing for England at the minute.”

“Three or four years ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be doing that, so just living my dream as a kid, representing my country – I am very happy playing all three formats.”

Plundering 227 runs from three outings, Duckett finished as the third-highest run-getter at Champions Trophy. His highest score – 165 against Australia – marked the second-highest score in Champions Trophy history behind Ibrahim Zadran’s 177.

While Duckett was impressive with the bat, England were unable to make a mark at the marquee tournament. The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup winners have only won three out of the last 14 ODIs.

Opening up on the recent performances from the team and the scrutiny that has followed, Duckett said: “We are in the spotlight. People are always going to have opinions on what we say. At times, I haven’t got it right and it is a fine balance. It’s certainly not the case that we don’t want to win games. After every game in the Champions Trophy, if there was a camera, you would see a group of lads hurting, wanting to win, and believing they could win every single game.”

“When I pull on an England shirt, whatever the format, the only thing on my mind is to go out and win it – win it for the country. The Champions Trophy was disappointing and we were all hurting a lot. There were moments where we played well and we could easily have won the first two games, and suddenly it is a different story. We came from a tough tour of India and I think when you are not used to getting over the line in tight games, that can have an effect on you.”

The swashbuckling opener, however, feels that England can turn the tide in the upcoming summer of cricket at home, which includes a much-anticipated five-Test series against India. “It’s an exciting summer, looking forward. I think we can go out there this summer, play against some good sides, and hopefully win some series.”

England will kickstart their home summer with a one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge starting 22 May before taking on West Indies across three ODIs and as many T20Is. This will be followed by the five-Test series against India.

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