England batter Ben Duckett admitted on Friday that his behaviour during the team’s humbling 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia had been inappropriate.
The 31-year-old was caught on camera under the influence of alcohol following the second test in December, when England were 2-0 down in the series.
“I’ve held my hands up since then,” Duckett told reporters.
“It’s not something any professional sportsman should be doing. We were having a break that was planned before the series and if we were winning it probably wouldn’t have been news and nobody would have cared.
“We were struggling as a side and I was struggling as a player so I shouldn’t have put myself in a position like that.”
Duckett thanked captain Ben Stokes, coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key for supporting him through the episode, but acknowledged his performances during the Ashes were below par.
He scored only 202 runs at an average of 20.20 and did not play in the Twenty20 World Cup, where England were eliminated by champions India in the semi-finals this month.
“I wasn’t proud of how things went in Australia,” Duckett said.
“But I’ve been good during my career in acknowledging when I’ve got it wrong and hopefully, moving forward, people will see how much playing for England means.”
Duckett, who was bought by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals for 20 million Indian rupees ($211,000), pulled out four days before the tournament to focus on his international career.
“For me pulling out of the IPL, turning down a good chunk of money and missing the opportunity to play with and against some of the best players in the world to be here playing for Notts (Nottinghamshire) is a step in the right direction to show how important playing for England is,” he said.
England host New Zealand in a three-match test series in June.
(Reuters)
