England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith aims to emulate Brendon McCullum’s playing style after the New Zealander gave him his chance in both Test and one-day international (ODI) cricket this season.
It was McCullum, the head coach of England’s red-ball side, who took the bold decision to install Smith as the Test team’s wicketkeeper at the start of the home summer, with the 24-year-old leapfrogging the far more experienced duo of Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow into the role.
Smith’s fine form in his first six Tests has already seen him compared to celebrated Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist.
And now he has been given the chance to impress in a limited-overs format, where the retired Australia great was a star performer with both bat and gloves, by being selected for this month’s five-match ODI series at home to England’s arch-rivals.
McCullum does not officially take charge of England’s white-ball set-up until January, but there is no doubting the former New Zealand captain’s influence ahead of Thursday’s opener against 50-over world champions Australia at Trent Bridge.
It was McCullum, a dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman for much of his playing career, who told Smith following the end of the recent Test series against Sri Lanka that he had been chosen to take over from Jos Buttler, currently injured but ready to give up the gloves in a bid to refresh his captaincy.
– ‘Vote of confidence’ –
“To be told I’m keeping wicket for England in a couple of formats now is nice,” Smith said during a pre-match press conference at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.
“I found out just after the last Test finished at the Oval… Baz (McCullum) told me I was going to be keeping.
Smith added: “He’s sort of what I look to be as a cricketer, I guess: that nice attacking wicketkeeper-batsman. It gives you confidence to have someone there that’s had that sort of experience.
“You don’t tend to get too many wicketkeepers that are coaches and have an important role in the side, to help you along the way, so it’s great to have him.”
Smith has often found himself deployed as a specialist batsman by Surrey, with Foakes the reigning county champions’ first-choice wicketkeeper.
“I’d say up to this point in my career it’s been about batting first and I’ve been keeping on the side,” said Smith.
“But that’s about your role in the side. When you’ve got Ben Foakes in your team, you’re not going to be the wicketkeeper. I was happy just to bat because it’s something I love doing, so it’s a new tag for me but an exciting one. To keep in the Test series was a fantastic vote of confidence.”
England have added Saqib Mahmood to their ODI squad for the series, after he played in both T20s against Australia last week, with the Lancashire seamer bolstering an already well-stocked pace attack featuring Jofra Archer, Matthew Potts, Gus Atkinson, Reece Topley and John Turner.
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