Ben Duckett blasted his way to an unbeaten double century as County Championship title favorites Nottingham and Surrey settled for a draw at Trent Bridge on Monday.
The England Test opener announced in March that he would withdraw from this year’s Indian Premier League in order to improve his red-ball form following the disastrous defeat in the winter Ashes series.
Since the start of the county championship season, Duckett has scored 503 runs in seven innings. In Nottinghamshire’s first innings, he was dismissed by Dan Worrall for 42 runs, taking six wickets in the first innings.
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Ben Duckett outlines what he hopes to see from England this summer and why consistency is key
He returned again on Monday and scored 203 runs, including 23 fours and one six, off 311 deliveries.
After the draw, Duckett told Nottinghamshire’s club website: “It was a hard-fought game. Two very good teams coming into the game.” “Obviously, my knock was great. Going into the game last night, I thought if I had lost some wickets, I could have been under a lot of pressure against that attack. So I just talked to the players about responding time by time.”
“The second half of the innings was probably one of the easiest parts of my career, but I had to work a lot to get to that stage and I kept telling myself to be there at the end.”
Reflecting on his decision to sit out this summer’s IPL, Duckett believes his game is on the upswing heading into the summer, and fears that he might be left out of England’s Test squad to face New Zealand and Pakistan will now surely fade.
“I decided to stay here for my personal career. I love playing in this dressing room,” he added about his decision to miss the IPL.
“Everything is moving in the right direction with the decisions I made last month. My game is on track and I hope I can move forward with this confidence this summer.”
The win gave Nottinghamshire a six-point lead at the top of the First Division.
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Ben Duckett explained why he plans personal changes to extend his England career
Robinson stars as Sussex win by 7 wickets
Olly Robinson added to his bid for this summer’s England call-up by picking up six wickets in Sussex’s seven-wicket win over Leicestershire at Brighton.
The pace bowler has been in good form since the start of the season and has been included in England’s squad for the upcoming Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan.
England coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key have been in contact with the 32-year-old Robinson in recent months about a return to the Test squad, and Robinson has not played red-ball cricket for England since February 2024.
“I got a message from Buzz (McCallum) at the beginning of the season that the door was still open, which I was happy about,” Robinson told ESPN Cricinfo. “Kesey also called me and said, ‘Go out the ticket gate and knock on the door, there’s still space.’
England’s Ollie Robinson took six wickets at the weekend
He has 17 wickets so far this season, but has also been impressive with the bat, including a century not out in Sussex’s final match against Surrey.
Sussex dismissed their opponents for 232 runs on Monday before two long rain breaks threatened to end their 131-run chase.
Tom Clarke and Daniel Hughes arrived at the crease, but Hughes was immediately sent back to the clubhouse for a duck. Clarke made 39 of 30 shots, while Danial Ibrahim also reached the crease, hitting four fours and one six, but was sent off for 48. James Coles (32) and Jack Leaning (7) scored the final runs for Sussex, who moved up to fourth in the table with 2 wins and 1 loss.
Elsewhere, Warwickshire defeated Yorkshire by a whopping 337 runs to secure their second win of the season thanks to some great bowling performances from Ethan Bamber and Oliver Hannon-Dalby.
Yorkshire started the final day chasing 549 but were all out for 171, with Bamber taking four wickets for 50 runs and Hannon Dalby taking three.
Essex defeated bottom-of-the-table Hampshire by six wickets, handing Ben Brown’s side their fourth defeat of the season.
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Tom Norton, 18, scored a hat-trick on his first-class debut for Glamorgan in country cricket against Somerset. Credit: @glamcricket
Glamorgan bounced back from a slump from unbeaten 81 to 5-140 on Sunday against Somerset and moved up to fifth in the table. It was a historic victory for the Cardiff-based team, marking their first home win in Division One.
In the second division, Derbyshire defeated Northamptonshire for 263, with Shoaib Bashir taking three wickets and scoring 70, winning by an innings and 113 runs. Fast bowler Zac Chappell also impressed, taking 4 of his 53 wickets.
Tawanda Muiai led Kent to a win over Gloucestershire at Bristol, with the visiting side claiming an eight-wicket win and dropping Gloucestershire to the bottom of the second division.
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