MULTAN — Despite England’s 15 minutes of madness at the end of the second day that appears to have holed their hopes in this second Test below the waterline, they can console themselves with the performance of Ben Duckett.

The opener’s fourth Test century in the most difficult of conditions was yet more evidence that the decision to bring him into the fold two years ago for England’s last tour of Pakistan was probably the best selection call of the Bazball era.

He may have gone eight months without a century – his last was in Rajkot back in February – but Duckett, who turns 30 on Wednesday, is the standard bearer for the way this team approach the game under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

Since coming into the team, Duckett is averaging 46.73 and has a strike rate of 89.74 across 24 Tests. Those have included the toughest of opponents, including India away and Australia at home last year.

In the days, not so long ago, when we were all wondering where the next competent England opener was going to come from, Duckett’s form would have seemed like a fever dream.

The Nottinghamshire batter may not have had his best series in the Ashes, his highlight coming in a losing cause at Lord’s when he made scores of 98 and 83.

But on the day when the schedule for next winter’s series against Australia was released, he proved why he’ll be a certainty, bar injury, to be leading the Bazballers charge Down Under in just over a year’s time.

The freedom with which he plays really does set the tone. And although Zak Crawley, his taller and more technically correct opening partner, may have a game more suited to Australian conditions, where pace and bounce dominate, England would not be the team they are without Duckett’s aggression.

This is a player who rarely leaves the ball. In fact, he has left fewer than 40 of the 2,026 he has faced so far during his Test career.

That devil-may-care attitude frustrates some and may be the reason why 11 of his 15 half-century scores in Tests are unconverted.

Yet just look at the scoreboard when he’s in the groove. He has an unstoppable momentum like when you accidentally hit fast forward on Netflix.

His innings here was an object lesson in Duckett’s elite mindset – full commitment to a method he totally believes in and one he will not stray from regardless of the circumstances.

It’s why he’s the ultimate Bazballer.

He swept Pakistan to distraction to chisel out a third Test century in Asia. His first half-century came in 47 balls. It was the ninth time in 28 Tests he’d got to the landmark in under 50 balls.

Read Next

That’s one more than McCullum, Bazball’s spiritual leader whose eight came in 101 Tests.

When Duckett brought up three figures with a four off Salman Agha, 52 of his first 100 runs had come from sweep shots.

He is a player that’s emblematic of this regime and it is an environment he admitted after day two in Multan that brings the best out of him.

“I haven’t changed the way I’ve played coming into this side,” he said. “I think that’s probably why I’ve had the success I’ve had. I’ve got full backing from Baz and Stokes, who back me to go and play the way that I want to play.

“In these conditions, if I want to go and switch hit the third ball I face, they’ll give me full backing and there’s going to be no punishment or anything if I get out.

“So more often than not, when you have that backing from your coach and your captain, you’ll go out there and perform.

“I’m not going to go half-hearted into a sweep in the second over because I’m worried about getting out. It’s just the way I like to play my cricket.”

It’s no exaggeration to say Duckett wouldn’t be the player he is without that backing from McCullum and Stokes. He’s come a long way from the 23-year-old who struggled in his initial foray into Test cricket in 2016, when across four Tests in Bangladesh and India he averaged 15.71 at a strike rate of 57.89.

Read Next

Back then he was tormented by Ravichandran Ashwin, who even called Duckett out in between dismissing him in the first and second innings in Visakhapatnam – his last Test for six years.

When he returned to India at the start of this year, Duckett was England’s second-highest runscorer. It was a series lost 4-1 but one that saw him score 153 in 151 balls during the third Test in Rajkot.

His toughest test yet will come during next winter’s Ashes. The Australians found joy bowling short at him last summer, including during that Test at Lord’s when he fell two runs shy of a cherished Ashes hundred after being caught trying to pull Josh Hazlewood.

But a player who seems to be constantly evolving will be prepared for what is to come. He has shown an ability to master Asian conditions after a nightmare start to his career on the sub-continent.

Why back against him thriving in Australia, where his short stature should be no limit to a mindset and approach that makes him a giant of the Bazball regime.