Jamie Smith: A swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter with a calm head on his shoulders

Jamie Smith’s rise: Dynamic wicketkeeper-batter with the perfect blend of flair and focus. Smith smashed 80-ball hundred against India at Edgbaston.

When Jamie Smith walked at the crease on the 10th ball of the third morning, England were half-dead at 84/5. They had just lost their leading Test run-getter, Joe Root, and captain Ben Stokes on successive deliveries. Mohammed Siraj was fired up. It was perhaps the first acid test for Smith in his short career, facing the hat-trick delivery with a deficit of over 500 runs. 

He looked neither to defend nor to leave the delivery, amidst the loud cheer of the touring fans. The India pacer went full in search of swing. Smith drove it straight down the ground, showing the full face of the blade. The tourists didn’t imagine their draining upcoming couple of hours ahead of that passage. 

Jamie Smith- A balanced and updated replica of Jos Buttler  
Just a few minutes before the lunch break, Smith muscled Ravindra Jadeja for a slog sweep to reach an 80-ball century. That was England’s joint third-fastest red-ball century alongside Harry Brook. He is the exact image of an England Test wicket-keeper that the selectors hoped Jos Buttler would become in the future. 

With his century at Edgbaston, the Surrey batter has already equaled Buttler’s tally in the red-ball format in 81 fewer innings. With a six over long-off against Washington Sundar, the 24-year-old knocked the former England white-ball captain’s highest Test score of 152. 

There were periods when Jos earned success in Test cricket, but he was never consistent with his results. On one side, where Buttler was confused about the five-day format’s proceedings and pace, Smith has solved the puzzle. 

Just four months before the Ashes 2025/26 opening Test in Perth, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum got the fruit of penance. Buttler’s average of 31.94 in the five-day format was never their solution. 

Shubman Gill had a fabulous second day of the Birmingham Test with his career-best first-class score of 269. He also grabbed a brilliant catch of Ben Duckett late in the evening. With two quick wickets in the first 15 minutes, India’s focus, even for a second, shifted towards ‘follow-on.’ But it didn’t last long. 

Smith’s knock at Edgbaston was fabulous for many reasons. He was incredibly aggressive at the start of the innings. But once he realized Gill’s plan to go wide of their arc in the second session, they spent time and energy in running between the wickets. That was where he absorbed pressure. 

Prasidh Krishna kept whacking the short balls, a plan that worked against the batter at Leeds. But this time, he responded with more aggression. India set a leg-side field placement with six men on the ring. But the Surrey-born slapped them behind square to gain 23 runs against Krishna in one over.  

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Jamie Smith brings solidity and fire to England’s strong top order 
Since the start of 2018, England have tried seven wicket-keeper batters in the red-ball format. Ben Foakes has been the leading run-getter among them with 1139 runs in 46 innings. But his strike rate of 47.24 doesn’t match Stokes’ and McCullum’s Bazball theory. Jonny Bairstow isn’t their number seven. 

That’s where Smith came forward last summer. In just 19 Test innings, he has already smashed 909 runs at a strike rate of 75.81. The average is well over 56 with two centuries and four fifties. 

England have already enjoyed a cracking time with the top six in the last couple of years. Since January 2022, apart from Stokes, every batter of the top six belongs to the top ten leading run-getter list in the longest format. Joe Root is at the top of the list with 3578 runs, followed by Harry Brook (2596), Ben Duckett (2511), Ollie Pope (2402), and Zak Crawley (2357). 

In Jamie Smith’s presence, they won’t panic to follow their ‘Bazball’ theory against strong opposition. On certain occasions, they will find themselves on the floor. But they would remain confident of a big score thanks to the 24-year-old. 

When he reached 174, Smith surpassed his Surrey mentor Alec Stewart to record the highest score by an England Test wicket-keeper. It will take a swashbuckling effort to cross Smith’s 184* in this aspect. 

It’s wonderful for the format to find such talent. England spent many years finding their best suitable wicket-keeper in Tests after Matt Prior’s retirement. Now they can take a break, at least till the end of the upcoming Ashes. 

Every strong side has a stable wicket-keeper batter to bat. For India, it’s Rishabh Pant, while for South Africa, it’s Kyle Verreynne. Whenever New Zealand remain under pressure, Tom Blundell bails them out of trouble as does Alex Carey for Australia. It’s now Smith’s turn to earn success for England. 

His Edgbaston knock was from the playbook of Adam Gilchrist. And he will have a chance to impress the world in the next eight Tests till January 2026. 

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