Wicketkeeper backed to keep playing his own way despite first-innings dismissal at Headingley
Andrew Miller28-Jun-2025For all that there was tension as England hunted down 371 to win the first Test against India earlier this week, most of it had dissipated by the time Jamie Smith planted his front foot to Ravindra Jadeja, and blazed England past the finish line with a volley of four, six, six in the first over of the fifth day’s final hour.It was, as Smith explained this week, a pre-meditated assault. He had chatted with his batting partner Joe Root at the drinks break, and decided that, with India already armed with the new ball and with Jasprit Bumrah always lurking around the corner, it was time to seal the deal before India had a chance to get even the slightest sniff of a fightback.”The runs at that point were not too many, so I wasn’t expecting him to come on and bowl, but you’re just never quite sure, especially in cricket,” Smith said at a Rothesay media event in London. “You don’t know what will happen. I always back our tail but there could be a couple of decent balls and suddenly you’re eight-down and the pressure’s back on you again. It was nice to just get it done and move on.”Related
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That burst of aggression might not have been a remarkable option, had it not been for what had happened in England’s first innings. Back on the third afternoon, and with Smith similarly placed on 40 not out, he had again swung across the line – this time to Prasidh Krishna – and holed out to deep square leg to expose England’s lower-middle order to the second new ball.The two moments offer a microcosm of England’s no-consequences attitude. For all that the team was hailed for playing “Bazball with brains”, as Michael Vaughan put it on Test Match Special, the fundamentals of their mindset appear not to have altered massively. So long as there is method to the chosen madness, it appears anything still goes in the McCullum-Stokes regime.”It’s great,” Smith said. “Having that belief from other people is something that definitely took my game to the next level. When you’re out there batting, it is you and your partner at the other end, so it’s quite individual, but to have that backing and trust that other people are doing the same thing, you don’t feel you’re alone when you’re doing what you feel is right in that moment.”When you are caught on the boundary trying to hit the ball for six, you feel you’re not going to get a slap on the wrist. [The attitude is] ‘mate, that was a good option, the wind was howling that way’.Jamie Smith speaking at a Rothesay media event in London•Getty Images
“I knew there was a new ball coming and it looks as though I’d exposed Chris Woakes [at No.8] but, at that point, if I’d hit another couple of sixes in that over, you’re taking all the momentum into the new ball. The second new ball can bring wickets but it can increase the scoring rate as well. There’s always a little bit of calculated thinking behind it.”A lack of overthinking, however, remains one of England’s core principles. Speaking at the end of the first Test, while Stokes was enjoying the last laugh after criticism of his decision to bowl first, he reiterated that he and McCullum are a “simple-minded pair”, and that the team’s task, when everything else is stripped back, remains “scoring more runs than your opposition”.And so, when confronted with a second-innings scoreline of 302 for 5, with an awkward 69 runs still needed, this lack of complication was very much to Smith’s liking as he walked out to join Root.”It was simple in that you knew you had to chase the runs and we weren’t going to block out for the draw,” he said. “We were always going to be positive and try to get the runs. It was a rapid outfield and as good a batting conditions as you could have on day five. It wasn’t misbehaving too much as the Test went on, so you always felt as though you could keep it simple, you didn’t have to do things too out the box to get the runs which is very helpful.”It was certainly seemed to be India who cracked first as the final day wore on, thanks principally to Ben Duckett’s and Zak Crawley’s opening stand of 188, but also through the relentless optimism that the rest of the batting line-up brought to their task – including the captain, Stokes, who struggled against Jadeja’s left-arm line outside his off stump, but rarely stopped going for his strokes in a 51-ball 33.”It’s hard when you’re out there and you’re focused on the job at hand,” Smith said. “You know the importance of that moment, when you have the opportunity to start the series with a win, that your focus is all on that.”When they’re trying to get 10 wickets and you’re chasing 370, it’s not everyday that gets done. There could have been some head-downs at the end but they kept trying all day. I see a lot of chat about maybe some inexperience on their part but I thought they were fantastic throughout the five days.”