Ashes 2025: Jamie Smith’s drop on day two of second Test will worry England
This is an important series for Smith, who is playing in the Ashes for the first time. With this tour in mind, he was promoted to the England team at the expense of Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow in the early summer of 2024.
Smith has had an outstanding start to his Test career. He averaged almost 47 with the bat before the Test at the Gabba. His gloves were in order most of the time.
But there are also signs that the 25-year-old has some challenges to overcome.
Smith’s highest score in seven innings was 33, when he made 184 not out and scored 88 in the second Test against India in July, followed by 51 in the first innings of the third Test at Lord’s.
He looked increasingly lethargic as the India series progressed, both because of his batting and because he continued to suffer.
The Surrey man was in uncharted territory in a series where each of the five Tests went to the final day.
Not being the first-choice goalkeeper for his area (Foakes takes the gloves at the Oval) he had a workload like never before.
These Ashes will be similar; another five-Test series. Yes, the first Test in Perth was over in just two days but there are other challenges for a wicketkeeper in Australia.
While the steep jump and actual carry is an advantage, it takes some getting used to, and the terrible heat can be exhausting.
Head’s dominance seemed to surprise Smith. It was an excellent delivery from Archer that raced around goal. He bounced to Head at a time when Archer was averaging 89.3 mph and was still on the rise when the ball reached Smith.
Moving to his left, Smith got both hands on the ball, but was unable to get the rebound to parry in the direction of the slide.
“That was a great example from Archer, he quickly went to Jamie Smith but you’ve got to take those chances,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said on Test Match Special.
Former wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who was part of the England squad when they won the Ashes in Australia in 2010-11, said on TNT: “This is the worst place in the world to have just lost that catch.
“He didn’t do much wrong. Here at the Gabba he got the job done for some pace and some extra bounce. He got a pretty high hit in the gloves.”
“This is a chance you’ll want to take more times than not.”
According to data analysts Cricviz, Smith’s wicket holds up against other wicketkeepers in Test cricket.
It was only the fourth fumble of his career, having had 54 previous chances. Smith has a catching efficiency of 93% in Tests and the efficiency for all wicketkeepers in Tests since the start of 2024 is around 89%.
Interestingly, three of the four drops in his Test career were against left-handers.
Smith is also playing in the pink ball game for the first time.
The debate over whether England should send more players to the floodlit match between the England Lions and the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on the weekend before this Test has been tempered by the very different conditions in Brisbane compared to the capital.
Although Smith had five practice sessions with the pink ball ahead of this Test – two under lights – he fielded for the second ball in England’s first innings and missed the first chance that came his way.
