Jamie Smith revives England from drowning situation in latest show of class

Wicketkeeper proves perfect man for a crisis with potentially series-changing knock
 

An England middle order with nearly 25,000 Test runs between them managed only 25 in Rawalpindi. It took the mischievous, moustachioed Sajid Khan just over a session to dismiss all four of Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes: he celebrated each one by slapping his thigh and pointing to the sky, and soon had England's rookie No. 7 in his sights.

Home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka are about as gentle an introduction to Test cricket as they come for an England player, but Jamie Smith was now in at the deep end. At 118 for 6 on a pitch manufactured specifically to suit Pakistan's spinners, England were in real danger of squandering the huge advantage they had gained when the coin came down tails-up on the first morning.

Instead, Smith picked his moment to launch a stunning takedown of Sajid, demonstrating the ability to glide effortlessly through the gears that had first earned him his call-up. He defended resolutely against Noman Ali, the left-arm spinner who dismissed him twice in the second Test, but launched Sajid for five fours and four sixes in an assault which confirmed his rare combination of talent and temperament.

England looked spooked by the pitch during their middle-order collapse, with sharp turn on offer from the outset and several balls shooting through low. They tried unsuccessfully to sweep their way out of trouble and it took Smith's calm head to recognise that the slow nature of the turn rewarded playing straight, especially early in his innings.

"When Ben Duckett is saying it's tough to sweep, then it probably is near-on impossible," Smith said. "I took that on board, and definitely tried to put it as way as much as possible - even though it can be quite a good run-scoring shot out here. It was just about being a little bit more selective."

He made nine runs off his first 32 balls, slowly building a partnership with his Surrey team-mate Gus Atkinson, before sensing his chance to put Sajid under pressure. Twice in succession, he skipped down the pitch and dragged him over midwicket: first along the ground, then clearing the rope despite an athletic attempt from Saim Ayub to parry the ball back into play.

This was Smith's opportunity. "I felt like he changed his plans a little bit, and started going slightly wider," he said. "It felt quite samey with him going at one end and the left-arm spinner from the other. We thought, 'How can we try to change the momentum of the game, and maybe dictate terms a little bit going into the back-end of the innings?'"

 

Smith's slog-sweeps and leg-side pick-ups earned him occasional glares from the animated Sajid, but finally forced Shan Masood to make a bowling change. For the first time since they racked up 823 in the first Test, England's batters were making the running: when the seventh-wicket stand passed 100, they had emphatically reclaimed the ascendancy.

Atkinson fell shortly after, and Smith upped the ante even further, using his feet and launching Zahid Mahmood's legspin for two straight sixes in the space of three balls. He had to drag himself off after miscuing a slog-sweep straight up in the air to fall for 89, but his innings had changed not only the day, but potentially the series.

This was the scenario that England had in mind when they picked Smith at the expense of Ben Foakes, who had scored at a strike rate below 40 in India. "We feel that he can soak up pressure… but his challenge is to bring that other side to his game," said Rob Key, England's managing director. "We want someone who can have both those forms of batting, and we feel that Jamie Smith can do that."

For all that Smith looked the part during England's home summer, playing overseas is a different matter altogether. It is not just about dealing with new conditions, but the intensity of the environment: Ben Stokes described this tour as "Groundhog Day", with England's presidential-level security confining them to their hotels outside of training and playing.

Smith has never set foot in Pakistan before and his first experience of keeping wicket overseas in a Test match asked questions of his endurance as much as his skill. In Pakistan's first innings in Multan, he took a leg-side strangle in the fourth over, then missed his only other chance - a stumping off Joe Root - some 143 overs later in the blazing sun.

The second Test was harder still: "You will not get a tougher set of conditions to keep wicket," said Brendon McCullum, a man who would know. Standing as close to the stumps off seamers as he had since Under-11s level, by his reckoning, Smith dropped a costly chance when Salman Agha was on 4. He went on to make 63, which took the game beyond England's reach.

But Smith has impressed England with his mentality throughout his first run in their side: assistant coach Paul Collingwood says he "never seems to change his demeanour, no matter what's happening". At 24, it is an impressive trait - one Smith believes he developed while playing with older team-mates when promoted early in Surrey's age-group system.

He is fast becoming England's man for a crisis. "I don't mind those situations: there is not too much to lose and seems like everything to gain," he said. "I want to be someone that does it in all conditions - not just at home - and against spin and seam, so to come out here and to put in that performance is quite pleasing."

Smith will be named in England's squad to tour New Zealand when this series ends but will be unavailable for at least one Test - and potentially all three - due to paternity leave, with his partner expecting in mid-December. He is yet to make a "firm decision" on how many games he will miss - but on this evidence, England will clearly miss him.