Duckett stakes claim for Test bow and leaves Yorkshire's Ballance sweating for place

Duckett celebrated his 22nd birthday yesterday with a fourth half-century in his last five innings as the tourists drew their final practice match against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI.

The first Test is on Thursday and Duckett could have done no more to put himself in the frame for his bow in the longest format, having also made a 50 in the first warm-up as well as a couple in the preceding one-day series.

He is vying with Haseeb Hameed for a place to become the ninth person to partner Alastair Cook since Andrew Strauss’s retirement four years ago although there is increasing speculation he could replace Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance in the middle order.

As long as he is awarded his first Test cap at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Thursday, the left-hander is unfazed at where he is placed in the line-up.

He said: “All I can hope for is if there is a spot that I take that opportunity and try and score as many runs as I can for the team. Playing for England is a dream for me and every other cricketer. Wherever I do slide in in that side, if I do get picked then I’ll be happy wherever.

“These couple of days have helped me get used to the heat, the conditions, the way that they bowl and I definitely feel ready.”

Duckett, who retired out in both of England’s practice matches after scoring a 50, will look to tighten his technique against spin before the first Test after facing predominantly seam bowling over the past few days.

Bangladesh named a 14-man squad on Sunday, selecting only two pacemen while spin is a heavy presence.

Duckett added: “I haven’t actually faced a lot of in the last couple of games here, so I’ll probably have to get in the nets in the next couple of days and face more spin because I only batted for the first session against a majority of the seamers.

“It’s going to be different facing their spinners out here and it’s going to be a challenge that I look forward to.”

Duckett, who turned 22 on Monday, made a watchful start but accelerated to his fourth half-century from his last five innings before retiring on 60 during the lunch interval.

Fellow opener Hameed was more cautious but he brought up his 50 shortly before tea and ended the second session on 57 not out as England reached 178-3 in reply to the hosts’ 294.

Hameed was struck on the helmet and hand early on by Taskin Ahmed and although he had a comparable strike rate to Duckett for much of the session, the Lancashire teenager remained vigilant as his partner became more attack-minded.

After lunch, stand-in captain Joe Root partnered Hameed.

Root was punchy from the off but on 24, he was caught behind attempting to sweep leg-spinner Tanveer Haider to give the BCB XI their first genuine wicket.

Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler did not last long. Bairstow made six before thumping straight to short cover while Buttler may have seen his chance of playing as a specialist batsman go by after slicing to point on four.