Ben Duckett’s just-whack-it mentality is why Brendon McCullum is such a big fan as the England opener stars against West Indies

Ben Duckett went into this Test match knowing he might miss a part of it to be at the birth of his first child. If it had been me unbeaten on 60-odd as lunch approached, as Duckett was on Thursday, I’d have been texting the wife, saying: ‘Hang in there.’

Faced with a batting surface like this, openers of the ilk of Graham Gooch and Geoff Boycott would have been booking in for bed and breakfast, adopting an ‘over my dead body’ approach to preserving their wicket.

But this England team were still thrashing at it, going at nearly five an over, and for good reason – because if this Trent Bridge pitch goes even flatter, the value of scoring quickly will be emphasised, as it was in Rawalpindi in late 2022 when they made a mountain of runs on day one and defeated Pakistan deep into the final day.

Duckett epitomises this way of playing and going back a couple of years, his was an excellent selection.

He wasn’t the name at the top of everyone’s list of candidates when changes were required at the top of the order, but I remember Rob Key telling me on the outfield at the Oval that Brendon McCullum really liked him.

Duckett hit 14 fours as he raced to 71 runs off 59 balls on Day One of the Second Test

At times Duckett is vulnerable outside that off-stump and he nicked off at Lord’s last week,

You can see why. Traditionally, openers in England have left well. Think of Michael Atherton, Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss. Duckett just doesn’t.

In Test match cricket he lets about 2% of his deliveries go – a ridiculously low amount. Next is something like the 15% of Australia’s David Warner.

At times he’s vulnerable outside that off-stump and he nicked off at Lord’s last week, but with him it’s a classic case of risk and reward. If you don’t leave in England, you will nick off. Yet he is only too aware that it’s his strong area.

He’s so good square of the wicket on the off side that if you’re marginally out on line or length he’ll just put you away for four.

If I’d been in West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s shoes yesterday, I’d have done more of what Australia did in last year’s Ashes and posted a sweeper on the off side immediately to counter his strength.

Having a man out there would also have encouraged him to run the ball through the offside in search of singles and that in turn would have brought the outside edge into play, but they kept the field up and he just kept belting it through there.

I like his mindset. England lost the toss, then Zak Crawley in the first over, yet he didn’t go into his shell.

Duckett was eventually caught as Shamar Joseph took his first of two wickets on Day One

Brendon McCullum has been a huge fan of Duckett and his just-whack-it mentality

An England side of just a few years ago would have tried to survive and gone nowhere, but Duckett put the bad balls away, put some good balls away too and West Indies momentum had gone when the 50 came up in 4.2 overs.

Recall the number of times not so long ago that England lost early wickets and Joe Root came in at 20 for two, with openers trying to play the other way.

Fair play to Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, because while he liked Dom Sibley, Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns as people, he just didn’t believe in going into survival mode at the top of the order. Key is a big fan of putting the bowler back under pressure.

Whenever you get to 20 not out in a Test match, you feel a million dollars. Sometimes you have to grind so hard to do so. Duckett took half a dozen deliveries yesterday, was moving well at the crease and unconcerned about the prospect of another low score, set the tone perfectly.