Ben Duckett passes fitness test ahead of suspected groin niggle ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy for England.
Ben Duckett passed fit for Champions Trophy after groin scan.
After suffering a left groin injury during last week’s ODI series against India, Ben Duckett was given the all-clear, which improved England’s chances of winning the Champions Trophy.
One bright spot in England’s otherwise dismal campaign had been Duckett’s performance at the top of the order. Alongside Phil Salt, with whom he had three consecutive fifty-stands, he contributed regular solid starts in the powerplay and struck two half-centuries during the T20I and ODI series, in which England won just one of the eight games.
Duckett, however, was clearly hindered when striking a boundary-laden 34 in England’s next innings after appearing to strain his groin while fielding in the later part of India’s innings in the final ODI at Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Duckett’s groin scans, however, showed no serious problems, and an ECB press release deemed him “fit and available” for England’s tournament opener against Australia in Lahore on February 22. This is because England has already moved to the United Arab Emirates in front of their Champions Trophy campaign.
Given the squad’s previous injury problems, the news is a welcome boost ahead of England’s February 18 arrival in Pakistan. Jamie Smith hasn’t played since the third ODI on January 28 because of a calf injury, and they’ve already lost Jacob Bethell to a hamstring injury. Somerset’s Tom Banton was brought into the team as a replacement.
The fast-bowling team is also worried because Jamie Overton has a hamstring problem and Brydon Carse is dealing with a toe injury. In addition, Jofra Archer is tending to a cut hand.
Kevin Pietersen has been very vocal about the team’s lack of net practice throughout the ODI series, and the team has also had to overcome criticism of their training techniques.
Pietersen renewed his criticism of X on Thursday, claiming that “batters from batting against net bowlers and learning the art of playing spin” were not being hindered by injuries, which are a natural part of sports.
The “factually incorrect” assessment of England’s preparations, however, was dismissed by head coach Brendon McCullum, who maintained that his squad was on course to contend well at the Champions Trophy.
“Guys have come from a lot of cricket and keeping guys fresh is just as important, especially when you have injuries,” he said. “We’ve done lots of training. We have had injuries in the camp so we’ve backed guys off a little bit to make sure we had a fit team.”