Cast your mind back to last summer – the start of Bazball 2.0.
After a 4-1 defeat in India the previous winter – which could have turned out differently if not for some daft-shot-induced batting collapses – England opted for changes as they plotted how to win the ongoing return assignment and then the impending Ashes.
Record wicket-taker James Anderson was jettisoned (albeit not before a fitting farewell at Lord’s, the venue where he had begun his titanic Test career 21 years earlier), while we have not seen Ollie Robinson and Jonny Bairstow in whites since that India tour.
Ben Foakes was dropped by England last summer with Smith selected as wicketkeeper-batter in his place
Another casualty was wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. Arguably the finest gloveman on the planet dropped for the guy he wore the mitts ahead of in first-class cricket for Surrey.
Wicketkeeping purists may have lamented that fact at the time. No longer able to see the ball melt into Foakes’ gloves at Test level like it was the easiest thing in the world.
But, over a year on, there is little disquiet.
Smith has scored two centuries and four fifties in 12 Tests
Foakes’ replacement, Jamie Smith, has done precisely what he was picked for: added counterattacking punch with the bat from No 7.
Smith goes through the gears in excellent Edgbaston innings
His 184 not out from 207 balls against India at Edgbaston on Friday – the highest score by an England Test wicketkeeper, eclipsing the legendary Alec Stewart – was the most glorious example yet, taking Smith, described by Harry Brook as “phenomenal”, to two centuries and four fifties since displacing his county colleague.
Foakes battled hard in India but became rather bogged down, scoring his 205 runs across the five Tests at a strike-rate under 40. When England wanted to counterpunch, they stalled. As Foakes once remarked: “I’m not, as you’d say, Bazball.”
But Smith very much is Bazball.
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Harry Brook lavished praise on Smith after the pair’s 303-run stand against India at Edgbaston
And by that we don’t mean purely smashing sixes and firing fours – although ‘Smudge’, as his team-mates call him, is extremely adept at that, as India’s Prasidh Krishna dramatically found out when he was biffed for 22 by Smith in one over.
We also mean having the ability to shift through the gears depending on the match situation.
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Smith smashed five boundaries in as many legal deliveries off India seamer Prasidh Krishna
That was evidenced in his debut knock against West Indies when he reached fifty from a measured 98 balls before mowing a couple of sixes later on as he helped his side total 84 for the final four wickets. A slow start before a little sprint towards the finish.
It was the opposite against India, though, as Smith made the fastest of starts, even threatening to steal the record for England’s briskest Test ton of all time – which remains the 76-ball onslaught by Gilbert Jessop, against Australia at The Oval in 1902.
Smith stars under extreme pressure
In the end, Smith had to ‘settle’ for an 80-delivery ton, England’s joint third-fastest.
Anyone who has watched Surrey and England will know he is a man of talent. More than his ability, I like his calmness and attitude. He looks like he is meant to be playing here.
Sky Sports Cricket’s Nasser Hussain on Jamie Smith
And he did that having come to the crease with his team in a tizz at 84-5 – and still over 500 runs in arrears – after Joe Root and Ben Stokes had been dismissed from the previous two balls.
Stuart Broad called it the most pressurised moment of Smith’s career. But he dealt with that pressure by drilling Mohammed Siraj’s hat-trick delivery for four. Temperament as well as talent.
He then proceeded to belt anything remotely full or short to or over the boundary, picking up length marvellously, before he and Brook, with whom he shared a stand of 303 from 368 balls, reined themselves in smartly during the afternoon.
Smith attempted to apply the afterburners again once Brook fell, only for a tail-end collapse around him to scupper that plan.
And with England now 244 runs behind India, and with the tourists still having nine second-innings wickets in hand, it may be that Smith’s knock comes in a losing cause, not that this England team will have given up hope. Bazball doesn’t do lost causes.
But whatever happens over the remaining two days in Birmingham, Smith looks like he will win many games for his country in future – although ideally not from 84-5. He’s a keeper in more ways than one.
Watch day four of the second Test between England and India live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10.15am Saturday (11am first ball) or stream without a contract.
England vs India – results and schedule
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all on Sky Sports
First Test (Headingley) – England won by five wicketsSecond Test (Edgbaston): July 2-6Third Test (Lord’s): July 10-14Fourth Test (Emirates Old Trafford): July 23-27Fifth Test (The Kia Oval): July 31-August 4
