England wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith has strongly implied that missing out on the Indian Premier League is a blessing in disguise, which will help him improve his red-ball game instead. Smith put his name in the auction at the base price of two crores. The youngster, however, failed to attract a single bid and remained unsold. He was then left out of England’s white-ball tour to Sri Lanka and subsequently missed out on competing at the T20 World Cup.
Despite the setback and agreeing that playing at the IPL would have drastically improved his overall game, the hard-hitting wicketkeeper remained optimistic and focused on playing in the County Championship until an England call-up comes for him in the summer.
“At the time, I would have definitely liked to have gone [to the IPL]. It’s an ambition of mine to strengthen all sides of my game, and I see the IPL as something that can really enhance the white-ball side and does have benefits again to the red-ball [game]. But in hindsight, yeah, it’s fantastic to come here and have a block of red-ball [cricket] behind me. I felt that towards the back end of the summer and into the winter, technically, I felt a little bit out of kilter,” Jamie Smith was quoted as saying during Surrey’s pre-season media day.
“It’s been nice to come here [The Oval] and work on a couple of things and then I’ll be able to hopefully implement them, for six or seven [County Championship] games, and we’ll see where we get to if there’s any England stuff after that. But, yeah, it’s nice to have a little block to try and get things right,” he added.
Smith’s fight for spot in Test side
Smith has been England‘s primary wicketkeeper in the Test side ever since he made his debut in 2024. While he averages 41.48 in the longest format of the game, he averages just 21.77 and 26 in ODIs and T20Is, respectively.
Despite a relatively underwhelming Ashes series where he scored just 211 at an average of 23.44, Smith’s place in the Test team should be safe for now. However, there will be competition for the gloves from the likes of Somerset star James Rew, who has been in incredible form for the England Lions, as he displayed some of his best cricket against the touring Indian side during mid-2025.
Smith will rejoin Surrey ahead of the start of the 2026 County Championship season. The Three Feathers play their opening game away to Warwickshire, starting from April 3. He will probably be their second-choice wicketkeeper, with Ben Foakes usually being Surrey’s main man behind the wickets.
