With Jos Buttler stepping down as England white-ball skipper, the team is now searching for his successor following a disappointing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.
The tournament ended without a single victory for England, and Buttler resigned midway after a series of poor performances from the ODI side.
With England yet to announce Buttler’s successor, opener Ben Duckett, who was among the top run-scorers at the recently concluded Champions Trophy, has expressed that captaining England would be a dream opportunity for him.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Duckett stated, “To captain England would obviously be a dream. I don’t think it’s on the radar, but I don’t know that for sure, which is why I am answering like this. We will see what happens moving forward and what decisions are made. Right now, I am just pretty happy playing for England. Three or four years ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be doing this, so I am just living my childhood dream of representing my country.”
Duckett impressed with the bat, scoring 227 runs in three matches, finishing as England’s top scorer and the third-highest run-getter of the tournament. His remarkable knock of 165 against Australia was the second-highest individual score in Champions Trophy history, only behind Ibrahim Zadran’s 177.
Despite Duckett’s heroics, England failed to make an impact in the competition. The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup winners have now won only three of their last 14 ODIs, raising concerns about their form.
Reflecting on the team’s recent struggles and the criticism they have faced, Duckett acknowledged, “We are always in the spotlight. People will always have opinions about our performances. The truth is, we want to win every game. After every Champions Trophy match, if there was a camera inside, you’d see a group of players hurting, believing they could have won. It was a tough tournament for England, and we were all deeply disappointed.”
However, Duckett remains optimistic that England can turn things around in the upcoming home summer, which includes a highly anticipated five-Test series against India.
“It’s an exciting summer ahead. We have strong opposition lined up, and hopefully, we can win some key series,” he said.
England’s home season begins with a one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge on May 22, followed by three ODIs and three T20Is against the West Indies. The marquee event of the summer will be the five-Test series against India, where England will look to reclaim their dominance on home soil.