For England, this has been a summer of transition and transformation. Compared with the team that beat Australia at the Oval in the last home Test of 2023, the side that lost to Sri Lanka at the same venue on Monday was, on average, five and a half years younger.
In the intervening period, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali retired, and with Mark Wood and Ben Stokes injured, England went from a team that had taken 2,008 Test wickets to one with 332, from 38,417 Test runs to 22,128 (56% of them scored by Joe Root) and from a wicketkeeper who had done the job in 147 first-class games to one wearing the gloves for the 25th time.
Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson and Shoaib Bashir, having never played a home Test, appeared in all of this year’s six and still England came within half a game of claiming a clean sweep of summer Test victories for the first time in two decades. Smith’s success has been particularly eye-catching, especially as he kept wicket in one County Championship game this season and one in 2023.
“These six matches have been a learning experience,” he said. “It’s a slightly unique situation in that I’ve been full at it since April; 15 first-class games plus the T20s and the Hundred. It’s been a lot … It is full on.
“You really immerse yourself in the seven days – the five days of the game and the two leading up to it. You’re always on mentally, every ball you’re watching or when you’re out in the field, you’re really in it.”
Smith averaged 51.75 in four innings against West Indies and 46.66 in six against Sri Lanka With a 50-ball 67 he was the only batter to emerge with credit from their calamitous final innings of the season. If at any stage he felt awed by the idea of wearing England whites, it was hard to spot.
“I don’t like to take it too seriously,” he said. “I know it does mean a lot to play for England but you can get carried away in that moment where you think it’s do or die. It’s a fantastic stage to be on and I don’t think you can let that weigh on you.”
Smith made his debut in Anderson’s final Test at Lord’s against West Indies, having been two years old when the bowler made his international debut. He had just turned 11 when Stokes first played for England, 12 when Root got his first call-up. Surrounded by the stars of England teams of his childhood, still he felt at ease. “Seeing that level of player gives you a bit of confidence, that you’re in this environment for a reason and you’re good enough to fit in,” he said.
“The way Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Stokesy have set it up means you can come in and be yourself and that really helps. You can see how many people have come into the side and hit the ground running.”
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Having played 28 games in all formats (and moved house) this season, Smith moves on to Saturday’s T20 Blast Finals Day for Surrey and an ODI series against Australia, before October’s Tests in Pakistan. “I’m unexposed at international level so every team you come up against they’re learning about you, but you’re also learning about them,” he said. “Every little experience I can get will help me moving forward.
“It’s a really enjoyable thing to be playing for your country. There’s going to be some tough times, but I if you can take that pressure off yourself and just enjoy what you’re doing, it really makes you feel a bit more at ease.”
