He suffered a traumatic winter at the hands of Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin but former England stalwart Ian Bell is convinced Northamptonshire’s Ben Duckett is destined for a return to international cricket.

His tally of 2,706 runs last season was the highest since former England international Marcus Trescothick’s 2,934 in 2009.

It included innings of 163 and 220, both unbeaten, in a one-day series for England Lions, and four first-class hundreds, the smallest of them 185.

Called up for England’s one-day series in Bangladesh in October, Duckett made 60 and 63 to help England to a series win, then hit a sparkling 56 in the second innings of the second Test in Dhaka before his troubles in India arrived.

He was eventually dropped from the Test side in India after scoring only 18 runs in three innings but Bell, who has played in more than 100 Tests for England, is predicting a return to form for Duckett.

“Ben is possibly the next cab off the rank currently,” said Bell. “There are some very good guys ahead of him, particularly with Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow.

“He had a fantastic year, last year, so now for him; it’s about backing that up in 2017, to show that he can keep that consistency.

“Then when he gets the opportunity again for England, take it. With England you want to absolutely nail down a place when you get a chance, so that no-one can take it off you.

“And when you’ve got a good squad, that feeling feeds into the 11 that are out there, they know that they have to perform, or otherwise there are people behind and knocking on the door.

“That’s all he can do in his position. But he’s another talented cricketer and if he can put in another good year, then he will be pushing the guys that are currently ahead of him.”

Duckett initially got his opportunity on the international stage following Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales’ reluctance to travel last winter to the sub-continent due to security risks.

His form may have seen him slip down the pecking order – and next month’s ICC Champions Trophy has arrived too early for Duckett – but Bell has challenged the Northamptonshire man to go away and rediscover his form on the county scene.    

“The Champions Trophy has maybe come too early for him, but there will be more opportunities for him, he’s only a young player,” Bell added of the 22-year-old. “He now needs to go away and work on his game.

“England picked the best 15 they’ve got at the minute and he’s probably just short of that squad, but there are some world-class players in there.

“He’s a good young player and he has to keep backing that up either with Northampton or the Lions, and his opportunity will come – his time is still ahead of him.”

The ICC Champions Trophy 1-18 June will see the best eight ODI teams in the world play in Birmingham, Cardiff and London. Tickets available at icc-cricket.com/tickets