County Championship: Ben Duckett hits double century as Ollie Robinson strengthens England Test claim

Ben Duckett blasted his way to an unbeaten double century on Monday as County Championship title contenders Nottingham and Surrey settled for a draw at Trent Bridge.

The England Test opener announced in March that he would be pulling out of this year's Indian Premier League in a bid to improve his form against the red ball, following a dismal Ashes series over the winter.

Across the start of the County Championship season, Duckett has amassed 503 runs from seven innings. During Nottinghamshire's first innings, he was dismissed by Dan Worrall - who took six wickets in the first innings - for 42 runs.

He returned again on Monday, smashing 203 runs off 311 deliveries, including 23 fours and one six.

"The game was hard-fought, two very good sides going at it," Duckett said to Nottinghamshire's club website after the draw. "Obviously, my knock was great. Last night, going in, I thought that if we lost a few wickets we could have been under a lot of pressure against that attack. So, just spoke to the guys about taking it hour-by-hour.

"That second half of my innings was probably one of the easier parts of my career, but I had to do a lot of work to get to that stage and kept telling myself to be there at the end."

Reflecting on his decision to sit out the IPL this summer, Duckett believes his game is trending upwards into the summer, and any concerns that he might have been dropped from England's Test squads to face New Zealand and Pakistan will now surely have faded.

"I've made a decision to be here for my personal career, I love playing in this dressing room," he added on his decision to sit out the IPL.

"That decision I made last month, everything is going in the right direction, and my game is good order and hopefully I can take this confidence going forward this summer."

The victory sees Nottinghamshire take a six-point lead at the top of the first division.