Not much went right for England at Edgbaston, but the performance of Jamie Smith has left many wondering whether he could be the genuine heir to Australian great Adam Gilchrist.
His 272 runs against India in the second Test came in a losing cause but the way Smith batted, especially during his unbeaten first-innings 184, was a sure sign he is on the path to greatness.
Despite being a right-hander, comparisons with Gilchrist, the man who reinvented the role of the wicketkeeper-batter in the modern era, have been rife ever since he made his Test debut against the West Indies at Lord’s last summer.
Even England coach Brendon McCullum was at it when asked after the second Test whether it was time to move Smith up the order.
“He does look world-class,” he said. “He’s just developing at rapid speed, and from our point of view, we’re very happy with him at No 7 and with the gloves. You wouldn’t have done that to Gilchrist, so I don’t think we should do that to Smith.”
The casual way McCullum dropped Gilchrist’s name in there tells you how highly England rate Smith. And with good reason.
His record after 12 Tests is better than many of the greats at the same stage of their careers. In terms of runs, average, strike-rate and the number of sixes, he comfortably outperforms Gilchrist after the same number of games.
Gilchrist reinvented the role of the wicketkeeper in Test cricket (Photo: Getty)His stats also compare favourably to AB De Villiers after a dozen games at Test level. De Villiers cannot be exclusively regarded as a keeper-batter given he only had the gloves for 24 of his 114 Test appearances, including just two of his first 12.
But the comparison with the South African is relevant given he did keep in more than 100 internationals across all formats and because he is arguably the cleanest hitter the game has seen.
Smith’s 184 at Edgbaston saw him take the record of his mentor at Surrey, Alec Stewart, for the highest Test score by an England wicketkeeper. His record after 12 Tests is also better than that of Matt Prior, England’s best keeper-batter of the 21st century.
Comparing players of different eras is always problematic. Gilchrist started his Test career in 1999, De Villiers in 2004 and Prior in 2007. It’s arguable if they made their debuts now, their stats might be better than Smith’s.
Yet what of Rishabh Pant, his opposite number in this series? Again, Smith’s start to life in Test cricket is better on every metric than the Indian, who played his first 12 games between 2018 and 2020.
It has been said that Smith is the wicketkeeper-batter England hoped Jos Buttler would be in Test cricket. While Buttler can be regarded as England’s greatest white-ball player, he could not replicate that form across 57 Tests and was dropped after the 2021-22 Ashes.
Yet the 34-year-old has been fulsome in his praise of Smith this week, saying on his For The Love of Cricket podcast with Stuart Broad he could become England’s greatest-ever keeper-batter.
“He could be couldn’t he?” said Buttler. “He’s certainly had an amazing start to his career. He seems to be one of those characters who is unflustered. He walked in on a hat-trick ball [during his 184 at Edgbaston], smacked it down the ground for four. I think he’s been one of the great finds.
How Jamie Smith compares with the great wicketkeeper-batters after 12 Tests…
Jamie Smith (England, 2024-25)
Runs: 997 Average: 58.64 Strike-rate: 76.81 Hundreds: 2 Fifties: 5 Sixes: 26Adam Gilchrist (Australia, 1999-2000)
Runs: 746 Average: 53.28 Strike-rate: 74.45 Hundreds: 1 Fifties: 6 Sixes: 2AB De Villiers (South Africa, 2004-05)
Runs: 1,047 Average: 52.35 Strike-rate: 55.60 Hundreds: 3 Fifties: 5 Sixes: 4Rishabh Pant (India, 2018-20)
Runs: 798 Average: 42 Strike-rate: 68.85 Hundreds: 2 Fifties: 2 Sixes: 19Matt Prior (England, 2007-08)
Runs 650 Average 40.62 Strike-rate 55.69 Hundreds 1 Fifties 5 Sixes 4“We’ve had some brilliant wicketkeeper-batters over time for England – Alec Stewart, Matt Prior, Jonny Bairstow. Smith looks like he’s one of them and one for the future who’s going to be amazing in that role at No 7.”
At 6ft 2in, Smith is tall for a wicketkeeper, as was Gilchrist, who was one inch shorter. Yet Buttler says the way Smith holds himself at the crease is reminiscent of Kevin Pietersen.
“He’s quite a big guy actually, quite tall but also strong,” he said. “You watch those straight drives he hits that are so dominating and just so powerful. He hits the ball so hard and so far. And I love the way he plays that pull shot. He’s a bit Pietersen-like the way he’s taking those [short] balls on. I just think he’s so exciting.”
It’s a lot to live up to for a player who only turns 25 during this week’s third Test at Lord’s. But given his start, we are right to get excited about just how good Smith might become.
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