Australian cricket analyst Kerry O’Keeffe believes England should drop Ben Duckett for the Adelaide Test.
The opener has struggled massively across the first two Tests, with scores of 28, 21, 15 and a duck.
O’Keeffe believes he isn’t the right man for the job in Australia, calling out his fitness, particularly after dropping multiple catches in Brisbane.
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Ben Duckett of England. Getty
“I’d drop Ben Duckett. I think he’s unfit, and bowlable, too,” O’Keeffe told Fox Cricket.
“He looks unfit, he’s dropped catches, he’s missed deliveries. I think they have to look for an alternate opener.
“Duckett doesn’t look right for this tour, to me.”
O’Keeffe would also axe No.3 Ollie Pope, who, after making 46 in the first innings in Perth, hasn’t fired a shot.
“I’d drop (Pope) too. No.3 has to be your centurion and your best player. He’s currently their sixth-best player,” he said.
He feels Will Jacks has shown enough with the bat to suggest he could open the batting alongside Zak Crawley.
“Jacks has the technique of an opener,” O’Keeffe said.
“I’d go Crawley and Jacks and tell Joe Root he has to go in at three and make hundreds.
“I think they should consider this fella Jacks. I think he could be wasted at eight. He’s a formidable player.”
Ben Stokes. Getty
O’Keeffe suggested captain Ben Stokes was another option to replace Duckett at the top – a move that would upend the English line-up.
“Ben Stokes is left-field, but defensively he’s their best batter,” O’Keeffe said.
“If you play quickly, Australia beats you. If you play the long game, you can beat Australia.”
English great Michael Vaughan believes there’s a clear choice if Pope or Duckett are to be dropped for Adelaide.
“Jacob Bethell is in the England squad, he’s 50-odd not out against Australia A at the moment. I think they would look to bring him in at No.3 if they’re going to make a change,” Vaughan said.
Bethell made 71 before he was dismissed by Fergus O’Neill.
England’s Harry Brook talks with former captain and media personality Michael Vaughan. Getty
Vaughan also listed some key areas of improvement for England as their struggles have continued.
“They have to play more cricket. They’ve got a set of players that have got to play more cricket,” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.
“And it’s not just about the cricket they haven’t played in Australia. I look back into the English summer and Zak Crawley missed three rounds of county cricket at the end of the season. Why?
“He’s a one-format player. I think our players need to play more cricket.
“And they need to not be so stubborn. Don’t think everything you’re doing is correct and tell us all that everything is right in preparation. It’s not. They haven’t got it right. Don’t be so stubborn.”
England opted out of a pink-ball warm-up match in Canberra between the Perth and Brisbane Tests.
They look extremely likely to lose the second Test, barring a miracle in Queensland.
