England equals unwanted batting record after horrible batting display in Ashes

England equalled a rather unwanted record for most ducks in a calendar year after another batting collapse in the ongoing Ashes. The visitors suffered humiliating innings and a 14-run loss in Melbourne. They were bundled out for just 68 runs inside the first session on day three. Dawid Malan, Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson were the batters dismissed for ducks in the second inning.

Overall, the batters registered five ducks in the Melbourne Test match. The visitors finished the year with a staggering 54 ducks, levelling to their own record which they created in 1998.

England's batting performance has been shambolic, to say the least in 2021. In 1998, the tail-enders Alan Mullally, Andy Caddick, and Phil Tufnell were the major culprits in scoring ducks. This time around, England’s top order batters were at fault. Rory Burns (six ducks), Ollie Robinson (four ducks).

Haseeb Hameed, Jonny Bairstow, Dan Lawrence, and James Anderson, all with four ducks each, are leading the charts of most ducks. Meanwhile, Sam Curran and Stuart Broad have failed to trouble the scores three times each. 20 batters have now scored zeroes for England in Tests in 2021. England would be hoping to avoid such record in 2022.

Among the top teams, South Africa’s has registered 29 ducks in a year. Pakistan and Zimbabwe have 30 ducks in a calendar year. West Indies registered 44 ducks in 2000, while India registered 39 ducks in 2018 and 37 ducks in 2002.