England wicket-keeper bat Jamie Smith has revealed his goal is to play all formats of the game for the national team. After impressing in Test matches, Smith made his T20I debut against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.
The right-hander scored an impressive cameo of 22 runs off just 12 balls but was dismissed by part-time spinner Abhishek Sharma. Smith has scored 637 runs in nine Test matches at an average of 42.47. The 24-year-old has scored 133 runs in seven ODI matches for the Three Lions.
Smith said as quoted by Sky Sports, “I want to play all formats for England. That’s the main goal. I’m seeing these games [as] an opportunity I get to experiment and showcase my skills, I want to do that. It would be nice to fix down a role so that everyone knows that you are going to be that number six batter in T20, it gives you a little bit more clarity to train and prepare with. I’ve got a very clear role in the Test side, keeping wicket and batting seven. That makes it much easier to prepare for. I feel confident I can go out and perform in any role that is thrown at me.”
Meanwhile, Smith revealed he wants to spend time with his family and thus he didn’t put his hat in the ring for the IPL 2025 mega auction. Smith is also part of England’s Champions Trophy squad and thus it will be a long tour for him away from home.
Smith added, “With a young family at home and the potential to be away a lot with England this year, there’s a lot of cricket, it was best for me to pull out this year. Family has always been my priority, you are a long time on the road and any time I can spend at home, is good. This is a long tour, two or three months, so I want to be at home as much as I can. Hopefully, I can showcase what I am about as a cricketer for potential IPL moving forward. it’s definitely something I want to try.”
The third T20I between India and England will be played at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot on Tuesday.
