Ben Duckett’s coach, James Knott, believes that Akash Deep should have been sanctioned by the ICC for his gesture of putting his arm around Duckett’s shoulder after dismissing the batter, so that youngsters could learn a lesson.
“It was part of a competitive series but certainly needs a sanction to discourage youngsters. At the same time, it doesn’t bother me personally,” Knott told the TimesofIndia.com.
Duckett was a big challenge for the Indian bowlers throughout the series. He scored 462 runs at an average of 51.33 in five matches in the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy, with a highest score of 149. Knott believes it is tough for bowlers to bowl to Duckett.
“He is short, left-handed, scores square of the wicket, sweeps both sides in multiple areas. In that sense, Duckett is not only a hard man to bowl at but very different to a lot of other players out there. Think of Gill, for example, who is a much more orthodox player,” stated Knott.
Duckett’s coach also feels that he was a good player from the beginning, but a few changes here and there have made him a better cricketer.
“When I first saw Duckett, he already had the reverse sweep and the switch hit but we added the orthodox sweep. He was always one of the smallest for his age but just hit the ball harder than most of them. The biggest thing he learnt during under-14 or under-15 level cricket was that he doesn’t necessarily have the power to clear the boundary. So he had to learn to keep the ball down, which he still does,” he added.
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