Smith disappointed to miss Indian Premier League; eyes red-ball reset

England youngster Jamie Smith admitted he would have “definitely liked” to feature in the upcoming Indian Premier League but believes that going unsold in December’s IPL auction could instead help him work on his shortcomings after a forgettable Ashes, and be in the best of shape ahead of England’s busy Test summer.

Smith, who was not picked in the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad and also missed out on an IPL contract this season, will instead turn out for Surrey County Cricket Club in the upcoming County Championship as he looks to regain rhythm with the bat and behind the stumps.

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The 25-year-old endured a challenging Ashes campaign in Australia, scoring 211 runs across five Tests at an average of 23.44 as England slumped to a 4-1 series defeat. Smith also put down a few chances behind the stumps during the tour.

The result further dented England’s hopes of reaching the next ICC World Test Championship Final in 2027, with the team currently placed seventh in the standings ahead of a home season featuring three-match Test series against New Zealand national cricket team and Pakistan national cricket team.

“It (the Ashes series) was tough,” Smith told ESPN Cricinfo. “You go to a tour like that with high expectations of trying to do as well as you can, and it didn’t pan out that way. Obviously I would have loved to have put some more returns there across five games for us to win a few more games, but the reality is that didn’t happen, and I didn’t play as well as I wanted to or was required for the team.

“It’s obviously disappointing, but you can take that as a learning experience. You are playing against a world-class as well, and I think sometimes that gets lost a little bit, how good the opposition is. It’s learning, but I’m coming into (the home summer) fresh and I love being back at (County side) Surrey and playing here.”

With no IPL commitments this season, Smith now has the chance to spend an extended period playing red-ball cricket for Surrey before England’s next Test assignments. He could feature in up to seven County Championship matches as he works on technical adjustments to his game.

“At the time, I would have definitely liked to have gone (to the IPL),” Smith said.

“It’s an ambition of mine to strengthen all sides of my game, and I see the IPL as something that can really enhance the white-ball side and does have benefits again to the red-ball. But in hindsight it’s fantastic to come here and have a block of red-ball (matches) behind me. I felt that towards the backend of the summer and into the winter, technically, I felt a little bit out of kilter,” he added.

“It’s been nice to come here and work on a couple of things and then I’ll be able to hopefully implement them, for six or seven (County Championship) games and we’ll see where we get to if there’s any England stuff after that. It’s nice to have a little block to try and get things right,” he further stated.