Ben Duckett: How fitness helped the England opener return to his best

Maintaining – or not maintaining – his fitness has been a recurring theme in Duckett’s career. As a youngster, he missed tours twice for failing to meet conditioning standards – once with England Under-19s in 2013, then a pre-season trip to Northants in 2015.

This time, with a Test career on the line, he worked with England fitness coach Pete Simm and Nottinghamshire counterpart Jack Bays to shed “five or six” kilograms.

Duckett added: “I started running, which was good!

“When I came back from the winter I had a four-week block where I didn’t necessarily hit a lot of balls.

“It’s really important now to use the hard work I’ve put in and maintain it.

“It was something I really enjoyed and it was great for my mental space and being away from the game. I went to the gym, I ran a lot and lost some weight.”

Early signs were good for Duckett. Three half-centuries in his first five innings for Notts this summer and an unbeaten double century against Surrey.

He still needed to introduce international worms. Against the backdrop of a snakepit pitch, scores of 19 and 33 were useful in England’s first Test win over New Zealand at Lord’s, only to suffer further misfortune after losing at The Oval.

On the second morning, Duckett took a simple and crucial catch off Kyle Jamieson as England surrendered the momentum. When he did come in to bat, he was in glorious touch for 36 before being run out by new opening partner Emilio Gay for a never.

At Trent Bridge, it could be a similar story. With England in perfect batting conditions and New Zealand’s 438 in reply, Duckett made his intentions known with two driven fours in the first over of Nathan Smith’s innings.

Smith, though, would find Duckett’s edge. Henry Nicholls should have taken an easy catch at third slip. As the ball dropped to the turf, Duckett responded by punching the next delivery for four and never looked back.

“I was talking to (England fielding coach) Sarah Taylor,” Duckett said. “We were joking a little bit about how we finally got some luck and how the game works.

“I’m very grateful to Henry Nichols for doing this with me.

“It was a really frustrating time, because I didn’t feel Nick, I didn’t really get the runs I wanted. ‘Mother Cricket’ was for me today. I went down and made them pay for it.”