We have a new winner of England’s worst dismissal of this Ashes series.
The culprit was Jamie Smith, who ended a skittish innings of 46 on day two at the SCG by backing away to a powderpuff bouncer from part-time Australia bowler Marnus Labuschagne and holing out in the covers shortly before the lunch break.
The wicket left commentators and pundits absolutely stunned with Smith picking out the only fielder in front of square on the off-side. “Brainless”, was Steven Finn’s take on TNT Sports. “Witless”, said Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton in his end-of-day podcast.
Test Match Special’s Jonathan Agnew went further, saying: “I have seen a lot of cricket and that is one of the worst dismissals I have ever seen”.
Agnew’s co-commentator Alex Hartley chimed in, calling Smith’s demise “filthy” and “disgusting” and lamenting a “lack of discipline”, while former Australia head coach Justin Langer described it as “one of the dumbest shots you will ever see”.
In a word, it was bad. For myriad reasons but mainly because England were going along rather nicely at 323-5 at that stage with Joe Root 129 not out. Lunch was approaching and the tourists needed calm – but Smith suffered a ridiculous brainfade.
Smith was hammered by pundits after gifting his wicket to part-time bowler Marnus Labuschagne
‘Smith’s dismissal shows problem with this England side’
Speaking to Sky Sports News, former England captain Nasser Hussain said when asked whether the batter’s dismissal was the worst of the winter: “It was right up there.
“It was a really poor shot, not just because of the execution and because Labuschagne was bowling but the timing – and that is the problem with this England side.
“They have a lot of talent but don’t seem to lock on to the situation of the game. It was nine minutes until lunch and five overs until the new ball. Just survive and go again.
“Smith will be very disappointed with the timing of that shot but it wasn’t just the shot, it was the innings.
“He was caught off a no-ball at cover and then nicked between slip and wicketkeeper next ball. He played some beautiful shots but could have been out six or seven times.
“I hope someone in that dressing room at some stage – maybe not this evening but at the end of the Test – will sit down with him and Harry Brook and say, ‘at times in this series, you have not taken the right option’.
‘England set-up has been one of no consequences’
Atherton added: “This has been a slightly no-consequences England set-up. You continue to be picked after averaging 30 in 60 Tests and I can’t think of people who have been dropped along the way for a poor shot.
“There is a balance to be had. You don’t want a situation where people are frightened to play their game because they fear the axe falling like in the 1990s but it has to be outcome-based. There has to be consequences.”
Smith’s soft dismissal was a prime example of why England lost the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket. They have played so many daft strokes on this tour it has been hard to keep count.
Labuschagne celebrates the wicket of Smith at the SCG
Batters driving on the up in Perth and sparking an alarming collapse when the game was in the palm of their hand. Similar dismissals in the next match in Brisbane. Tame whips to midwicket. Reverse sweeps gone wrong. Flirting unwisely outside off stump.
England have been so much better since the series was effectively lost but this Smith mistake highlighted their flaws.
They could and perhaps should have topped 400 at the SCG, yet were dismissed for 384 as that wicket triggered a slump of 5-61.
Smith’s Ashes struggles continue in Sydney
It has not been Smith’s series. Just one score over fifty, when he made 60 in Adelaide, and an average now standing at 23.12.
He has been bounced out more than once and had trouble dealing with the nip-backer, and he struggled with the gloves while keeping in the second Test in Brisbane – the first time he had played a game against the pink ball in his career.
Smith is averaging under 24 in the Ashes series with just one fifty
In truth, he looks like a man who needs a rest and will soon get one, having been left out of the squads for the white-ball series in Sri Lanka and subsequent T20 World Cup in that country and India.
There is Test quality in Smith, highlighted by his 184 against India at Edgbaston last summer when he rallied his side from 84-5, but since he followed that knock with a second-innings 88 in the same game and then 51 in the next Test at Lord’s, he has averaged 18.54 in seven matches in the format with a solitary half-century.
There will have to be changes for England after this Ashes series defeat, if not in personnel then certainly in style and, as Hussain said, in terms of “grasping the situation”. If England had done that Down Under, this trip could have been so different.
Smith has done it in the past but his horrendous dismissal in Sydney shows that he – and his side – still have a long way to go.
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