When I got called back into the team, I would have taken how it\u2019s gone so far, to be nearing 50 Tests now [his 50th is set to be against South Africa at Johannesburg in December]. I didn\u2019t think I was going to play my fifth Test.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, playing cricket for my country is something I\u2019ve always wanted to do, so hopefully there\u2019ll be some better moments I can add in in a few years. Maybe the Ashes<\/a> or the World Cup next year. Those team ones are always more special. Hopefully there\u2019s a few big ones around the corner.<\/p>\n Last winter\u2019s Ashes was the lowest point<\/p>\n Obviously, there\u2019s been a couple of off-the-field incidents [I\u2019ve been involved in], but my personal performance in Australia and the Ashes last winter was the worst. Losing as we did was pretty tough.<\/p>\n I think the individual failures you can deal with. You can choose not to see what people are saying but the team ones are harder. It\u2019s everything you\u2019ve worked towards and it hits the whole dressing-room, the whole country, all the fans. So it hurts more.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got to watch out for Gus Atkinson in the dressing room<\/p>\n He likes to play a few pranks. You\u2019ve always got to be on alert around him.<\/p>\n Your phone, or anything, will go missing. He\u2019ll nick something out of your bag. Bits of kit or whatever. But he has toned it down a bit recently.<\/p>\n Nigel Farage congratulates me when I do well for England<\/p>\n It\u2019s a strange one. It\u2019s so random. I\u2019ve never met him. He followed me on Twitter years ago. I think he might be a Notts fan, strangely, which might be why.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve got his number now and he texts me if I do well \u2013 saying \u201cWell done, Nigel F\u201d. It\u2019s pretty random.<\/p>\n I need to get him in a Duckett\u2019s Buckets [his hat business] at some point. Whether that would be good for the brand or not, I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n Piers Morgan is another. He\u2019s big into his cricket. Our first exchange on social media was funnily enough after the Jimmy [Anderson] episode in Australia [when he poured a drink over Anderson<\/a> on the 2017-18 Ashes tour in Perth\u2019s Avenue bar]. He likes the misdemeanours Piers, doesn\u2019t he? I think he wanted to get a story out of it at the time.<\/p>\n At a very young age, it was pretty cool to have someone like Piers Morgan contacting you. We didn\u2019t get any story out there but have kind of stayed in touch ever since. Two controversial figures. Maybe that\u2019s down to my off-field antics.<\/p>\n I wish I looked after myself better when I was younger<\/p>\n If I could change anything it would be to prioritise off-field maturity and fitness. It\u2019s tough because I came in at such a young age \u2013 22 \u2013 and you\u2019re still growing up as a human being. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve done over the past three or four months and I\u2019ve seen a lot of benefits<\/a>. I\u2019m at the back end of the summer and my body feels fresh. My mind feels fresh.<\/p>\n My career, I can\u2019t look back on that and say I regret anything. I\u2019m nearly 50 Test matches in, I\u2019ve played over 100 games for England, I\u2019ve scored hundreds, so I think just prioritising the fitness side of things which could have helped me throughout my career is what I\u2019d change.<\/p>\n Winning the Ashes next year would make everything worth it<\/p>\n If we\u2019re chatting this time next year and there\u2019s an Ashes under our belt, everything is kind of worth it. That\u2019s the dream.<\/p>\n For me, you only have to look back to 2005 watching that series and watching England beat Australia was incredible. So, hopefully, I\u2019m here and we\u2019ve won some games and we\u2019ve got confidence going into that series. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be a great one.<\/p>\n![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_309705383.jpg\")
Duckett is the only England batter to score a hundred this summer (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n