'There has to be some empathy' - Matt Prior defends Ben Duckett and England after Ashes 'trauma' following fourth Test victory
Updated 28/12/2025 at 20:01 GMT
Ben Duckett endured the toughest of weeks between the third and fourth Ashes Tests. But then England won the Melbourne Test by four wickets, with Duckett's batting in the second innings setting them up for victory. Matt Prior says there should be "some empathy" for Duckett and England. Live coverage of the Sydney Test, starting on Saturday night, is on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Duckett will feel ‘relief’ after Melbourne win following video-criticism ‘trauma’ - Prior
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Matt Prior said "there has to be some empathy" for the "trauma" Ben Duckett and England have suffered after their decisive Adelaide Test defeat in the NRMA Insurance men's Ashes.
The third Test went Australia’s way, sealing yet another Ashes series success on home soil.
Between the third and fourth Tests, Duckett appeared to be videoed in a heated exchange with an England fan, and there was criticism not just for the batter, but for the wider squad after suggestions that they had embraced the chance to party when they should have been training following their chastening defeat.
Duckett, however, was one of the standout performers in the two-day Test Melbourne Test that England won, scoring 34 off 26 deliveries to set the tone as they chased down a total of 175, winning by four wickets.
Speaking to The Edge on TNT Sports about the pace set by openers Duckett and Zak Crawley, Prior said: "You throw caution to the wind here. It's just set up for Bazball.
"There was one option and that was to play with freedom. You know one of them has your name on it, so try and get them before they get you, is the mentality.
"When you're chasing a low total, the very first thing you want in a dressing room is a fast start, or at least a good start where the last thing you need is a wicket falling early.
"No. 3's in, No. 4's in, suddenly 175 looks a long way away. Getting that start put England ahead, absolutely.
"Then, even when you lose wickets at the backend because of that start, they were so far ahead that there was no panic."
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Watch: Crawley slams ball into hoardings with 'high and mighty' six off Neser
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Prior followed up later by saying that the win and performance had come at the right time for the players after the "trauma" they had endured after a poor reception back home to their efforts.
Prior explained: "I think on the Duckett point, and actually on the whole England cricket team point, out there. I know people won’t like me saying it, but we want our sportsmen and women to be robots and ever-perfect, but at the end of the day they are still just human beings. And what Ben Duckett would have been going through, watching that video of him having a few beers and the constant commentary.
"Now you’re not talking about, ‘Matt Prior's slating my forward defence', you’re now talking about Ben Duckett as a human being. Actually, what character he is, what kind of person he is, and he’s sitting in a hotel room going, ‘I just want to play cricket and do my best’.
"Every one of the England team would have been going through that, so to come out of it and get a win, as much as there’s excitement and happiness, there’s a hell of a lot of relief as well for some very tired brains because of the trauma that would have been going around his team.
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"[Captain Ben] Stokes got round his group and managed that very well. There has to be some empathy of the human element of what these guys are going through, so to come out the other end is great."
Former England batsman Steve Finn agreed with his erstwhile team-mate, adding: "Certainly, tactically, for England to play in that manner, was the correct way to do it.
"You make the ball a bit softer, the sharp seam we have talked about disappears a bit.
"Especially when Zak Crawley biffed one over the bowler's head into that advertising. It definitely means that the ball stops zipping around a little bit more. I’m pleased for Ben Duckett after the week he’s had."
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Watch live coverage of the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney, starting on Saturday January 3, on TNT Sports and discovery+
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