Have England found Bazball’s missing piece in Jamie Smith

Jamie Smith might just be the puzzle piece England have been looking for as they begin their preparations for the next Ashes series in 18 months’ time.

Although he was chosen primarily for his skill with the bat, Smith conceded no byes and just 14 leg byes from behind the stumps in his debut Test match against the West Indies at Lord’s, which England won by an innings and 114 runs.

The game was billed as James Anderson’s final international swansong, but the on-field narrative was dominated by the exploits of two debutants, Smith and Surrey teammate Gus Atkinson. Smith arguably helps complete the batting line up, in the way Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have been searching for, since they took over in Spring 2022, and a number of different gloveman have been tried and tested since then.

Ben Foakes had been the preferred man behind the stumps, but he has primarily been selected for tours in the subcontinent, and memorably missed the first game during Bazball’s opening tour overseas, in Pakistan, with illness.

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On that occasion, Ollie Pope stood in for the first two Tests, but it was not going to be a long-term solution with the difficulties of keeping all day and then batting at number four.

Jonny Bairstow was recalled for the Ashes, just nine months on from a horrific leg break which has impacted his cricket ever since. Behind the stumps, Bairstow looked fallible, but it was hardly his fault, his ankle did not allow him to reach the standards he had done previously.

Foakes was recalled again for the five-Test tour of India, and his skills with the gloves impressed as it always does, but it was his batting that prompted McCullum and Stokes to look elsewhere. England wanted aggressive batting with the tail, which in India was lengthy, but Foakes is a more traditional accumulator, and his 1,139 Test runs have come at a strike rate of 47.24, not what Bazball is known for.

There is no doubt that Foakes is the more skilled wicketkeeper, in fact Stokes has often described him as “the best in the world” and he is Surrey’s number one choice for a reason. Smith is also at Surrey, but does not regularly take the position behind the stumps.

Smith has scored 3,504 first-class runs, at an average of 42.21, and more importantly, at a strike rate of 59.24. He has only had one Test innings so far, but he made his intent known.

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When on 49, instead of just playing the ball into a gap for a single = with Shoaib Bashir at the other end, he went for the big shot, didn’t quite get hold of it and had to settle for a single. He had his milestone, and England found exactly what they were looking for.

His Test debut innings finished with 70 runs and included one shot that will live long in the memory. The 24-year-old dispatched Jayden Seales, not just over the rope, but over the Tavern Stand and into St John’s Wood road behind, as he went through the gears.

If there was one criticism, it was that he did not allow James Anderson a final innings, Smith was caught on the boundary, leaving the 41-year-old not out having not faced a delivery at the non-strikers, but there were no problems with his batting performance.

“I always like to be aggressive, that’s the way I want to play my cricket – on the front foot,” Smith said after the second day’s play at Lord’s.

“I’ve maybe gone away from the traditionalist’s advice at times but I’ve just gone on what I feel is the best way for me to score runs. I’ve been really excited to prove I was good enough and belong at this level.”

England have decided to give Smith a chance both with the bat and gloves, with attention already turning, as it always does in English cricket, to the next Ashes series (the winter of 2025-26).

Smith has only played one Test match so far but will have a chance to assimilate to the format this summer with two more Tests against the West Indies, and the visit of Sri Lanka, before he will face his first real test at this level, an overseas tour of Pakistan in October.