England wicketkeeper batter Jamie Smith has set his sights on being an all-format regular for his team as he aims to seal his spot as a finisher in the T20I side.
Smith recently made his T20I debut against India in the second game of the five-match series at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The 24-year-old showed tremendous potential by scoring a quick-fire 22 off 12, smashing one four and two sixes.
Following his debut, Smith has opened up on his desire to play all three formats for his country. He also mentioned how having a fixed role in the T20I side would give him more clarity while training and preparing ahead of a game.
“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,” Smith was quoted as saying by Yahoo Sports.
Furthermore, the youngster reasoned that having a clear role in the Test side has allowed him to perform to the best of his abilities.
“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,” he added.
Smith’s impressive Test debut in 2024
Smith made his Test debut against West Indies in July 2024 at Lord’s, the game famously known for being the last Test of the legendary England bowler James Anderson. He scored a brilliant 70 in his first outing and followed up with a 95 in the third Test of the series.
Smith further went on to score his maiden Test hundred in the following Test series against Sri Lanka and recently scored a gritty 89 in the third Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on a turning track. In the nine Tests played in his career so far, the Surrey cricketer has scored 637 runs at an average of 42.46 with one hundred and four fifties.
Apart from that, Smith has also played seven ODIs but failed to impress with just 133 runs at an average of 22.16. Hence, the wicketkeeper batter will be eager to play some memorable knocks in the remaining matches of the ongoing T20I series vs India to prove his mettle in white-ball cricket as well.