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PERTH — England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith has revealed he received a pre-Ashes pep talk from West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen before setting off for Australia.
Smith, whose mother, Bernadette, grew up around the corner from Upton Park, is a lifelong Hammers fan who used to follow the team home and away with his father, Lawrence, before he became a professional cricketer.
The 25-year-old, who was on the books of AFC Wimbledon up until the age of 15, dreamed of being a Premier League footballer growing up but is now realising his cricketing dream as he gets set to take on Australia in Friday’s first Test in Perth.
The THIRD-FASTEST England Test century Counter-attacking in the extreme from Jamie Smith pic.twitter.com/8Yz3Ccc0WL
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 4, 2025Sitting down with The i Paper at England’s team hotel four days before the start of the most eagerly-anticipated Ashes series in decades, Smith says: “I’m excited. A little bit nervous as well of what’s to come. It’s been a long time coming so it’s nice to get here.
“I think for me, one of the big things is just to really enjoy it. It’s easier said than done at times but I see this as maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in an Ashes away from home. You don’t know what happens day by day, series by series so just try and enjoy the situation we’re in here.”
Boyhood club
Smith made his Test debut at Lord’s in 2024 against the West Indies (Photo: Getty)Having given up on football as a teenager, Smith rose through the ranks at Surrey before being handed his England Test debut at the start of the 2024 summer.
Since then, he has struck two centuries and is averaging 48.86 with the bat in Tests, with his big-hitting exploits from No 7 in the order likely to be key this winter.
However, football remains a passion for Smith, who counts Mark Noble as his all-time favourite West Ham player.
“Ever since growing up it’s been West Ham for me,” he said.
“My first game was 2006 so I would have just turned six. It built from there and as I got a little bit older I started getting season tickets, going home and away from when I was 14 or 15.
“The vast majority of times it was me and my dad trailing the country following West Ham around. We did that for a few good years before everything took over with cricket and life. They were very enjoyable times.”
Meeting his hero
Smith sought advice from Jarrod Bowen before flying out to Australia (Photo: Getty)His favourite current player is Bowen, who memorably scored the winning goal in Prague to seal the club’s Conference League final victory against Fiorentina in 2023 – West Ham’s first silverware in 43 years.
And Smith had the opportunity to meet his hero when he was invited down to the club’s Rush Green training ground by former manager Graham Potter in September.
Potter, an avid cricket fan, hosted Smith and his dad just one day before he was sacked and, eventually, replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo, who has since helped the club climb towards Premier League safety following wins against Newcastle and Burnley in their past two games.
“I was fortunate enough to meet Jarrod before we came,” Smith said.
“He’s a very nice guy and obviously he’s a fantastic player. It was a really nice thing to do, to go and see the training ground and just badger a few of the players for a little bit of time.
“It was very good. There weren’t too many that love their cricket but there were a few who knew what was coming up.”
Life under Nuno
Smith, who spent a month in New Zealand for England’s white-ball series before this Ashes, admits this season for West Ham has been a “tough watch”, adding: “The last two results have helped. Hopefully the new manager can drag us away from danger. He did very well at Forest. I was surprised with him getting sacked there.”
Keeping up with results in this part of the world is a challenge given many of the matches are taking place during the middle of the night in Australia.
Yet Smith senior has been providing expert analysis from inside the stadium for his son.
“It is difficult,” Smith says. “I wouldn’t say during a Test match I’ll be staying up until 2am to watch the games.
“Normally someone back home, usually my dad, will be texting me the result so when I wake up it’ll be the first thing I see.
“When I was out in New Zealand, for one of the games, it might have been the Newcastle game, he was there and knew I couldn’t see the game so he almost did a Sky Sports commentary of it, saying ‘goal – Wilson’, or someone else missed a chance. I didn’t even have to watch the highlights because I had that, it’s like a match report.”
West Ham appointed Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach after sacking Graham Potter (Photo: Getty)Smith won’t have the benefit of his dad’s West Ham match reports during the Ashes given he is in Australia for the whole series.
But in a parallel universe, he could have been playing football rather than wielding a willow down under.
“I was always a central midfielder or a centre-back growing up,” he says.
“I was slowly dropping deeper and deeper so if you’d given me a couple more years I’d have ended up in goal!
“I really enjoyed football, it was my main passion growing up. I spent a lot of time in the garden on my own playing. I just had the goal up trying to score or at least trying to avoid smashing the shed. I spent hours playing football – it’s a really big passion of mine and still is.”
The Bazball mindset
Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have turned England’s fortunes around (Photo: Getty)As for the Ashes, Smith has no doubt about how hard it will be to beat Australia in their own backyard.
“It’s obviously going to be incredibly hard,” he says.
“There’s no getting away from that fact, but if you can try and enjoy it as much as you can and do the things we’ve done over a period of time as a team and as individuals then I think that should hold us in good stead.”
The message of just going out and enjoying yourself that comes from head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes suits Smith perfectly.
“It definitely does,” he says. “You have that little bit more freedom, and you’re trusted, to play the way you want to play your cricket.
“That definitely does take that little bit of the extra baggage away I guess. That’s the way I enjoy playing my cricket, being a bit freer out there and not worrying about too many different things. I think it’s exactly the same here as it has been for the year or so I have played international cricket so far and I want to continue that no matter who we’re playing.
“We have a lot of respect for the opposition. I think it’s fair to say Australia away is one of the toughest challenges out there. But if you can see it as an opportunity to do well it’ll be a fantastic thing to come out here and win an Ashes.”
Gilchrist comparisons
Smith’s expansive stroke-play and power hitting have brought comparisons with another dominant wicketkeeper-batter in Australian great Adam Gilchrist.
“I’m not sure I’m anywhere near Gilchrist!” he says. “If I have half the career he has I’d be very happy with that.”
Having first been hooked by cricket when watching the box set of England’s famous 2005 Ashes series win as a kid, Smith is hoping the Bazballers can produce their own piece of history in the coming weeks.
“You still see the memories, clips and things, coming back now from that series and it’d be great to be a part of something like that, something quite special,” he said.
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England have not won any of their 15 Tests in Australia since they last won an away Ashes series in the winter of 2010-11. Smith is hopeful that can change.
“I definitely remember that series,” he says. “Not winning a Test in so long just goes to show what an amazing achievement that was and it’s exciting to have that opportunity now to emulate that.”
If he manages to help England pull off a repeat this winter, he may never have to buy a drink again when watching his beloved Hammers.
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