England cricket star Ben Duckett has been fined £700 after being caught speeding at 93mph in a 70mph zone.
Duckett, who opens the batting for England in both Test matches and limited overs games, admitted the offence on Friday after being caught by a police speed gun on the A50 near Stoke in August.
The 31-year-old was pictured at the wheel of his Land Rover.
Duckett pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last week in the hopes of recovering from a slump in form before England’s Test series against New Zealand begins in June.
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Ben Duckett during the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne in December. Pic: Reuters
As well as turning his back on a £200,000 contract with the Delhi Capitals, he also apologised for past actions, particularly an incident when he was filmed drunk on a night out in Noosa, Australia, midway through the Ashes.
After pleading guilty at Cannock Magistrates’ Court, he was fined £700, had four penalty points put on his licence, and ordered to pay £120 in costs and a £280 victim surcharge.
The speeding incident happened just after 1.30pm on 24 August, hours before Duckett played a starring role in a Birmingham Phoenix Hundred win over the Manchester Originals at Old Trafford.
Duckett admitted the speeding offence in September after being written to by Staffordshire Police.
He then pleaded guilty through the Single Justice Procedure when the force decided to bring a criminal prosecution rather than impose an out-of-court fine, due to the high speed he had been driving.
Ben Duckett in action on day one of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham in 2023. Pic: Reuters
It is not Duckett’s first encounter with the criminal courts.
As a rising star in 2015, he was prosecuted for drink-driving after crashing his car into a ditch in Northamptonshire, leading to a 12-month road ban.
Duckett was first selected for England’s Test side in 2016, but ran into controversy the following year when he reportedly poured a drink over bowler James Anderson’s head during a night out.
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He became a key player as an opener for England from 2022, adapting well to the team’s “Bazball” style of play before what he has described as a “ridiculously big dip” in his form over the last year.
Duckett’s speeding prosecution was dealt with behind closed doors last Friday without a formal court hearing.
The cricketer entered his guilty plea online and will now be written to with instructions for settling the £1,100 court bill.
