Jamie Smith insists England’s relaxed outlook – “do what you feel is right in the moment” – was central to the frantic yet clinical finish against India at Headingley.
England chased 371, and by the time Ravindra Jadeja began the first over after the final drinks break, the requirement was 14. Smith simply stepped down, thumped four, six, six, and walked off unbeaten.
“The runs at that point were not too many, so I wasn’t expecting him to come on and bowl, but you’re just never quite sure, especially in cricket,” he recalled during a Rothesay media event in London. “You don’t know what will happen. I always back our tail but there could be a couple of decent balls and suddenly you’re eight-down and the pressure’s back on you again. It was nice to just get it done and move on.”
Those blows looked spontaneous; in truth, they were mapped out with Joe Root a few minutes earlier. The pair felt the new ball, and Jasprit Bumrah with it, lurked one over away. Better, they reasoned, to gamble before India sniffed a twist.
That judgment was noteworthy because Smith had tried something similar – and failed – two days earlier. In the first innings he was 40 not out, swung Prasidh Krishna over mid-wicket, and picked out deep square leg. England’s lower order were left to confront a brand-new cherry. Critics muttered about “Bazball without the brains”.
Smith’s take is more nuanced. “It’s great,” he said of the freedom afforded by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. “Having that belief from other people is something that definitely took my game to the next level. When you’re out there batting, it is you and your partner at the other end, so it’s quite individual, but to have that backing and trust that other people are doing the same thing, you don’t feel you’re alone when you’re doing what you feel is right in that moment.”
He knows the line between adventure and recklessness is thin. “When you are caught on the boundary trying to hit the ball for six, you feel you’re not going to get a slap on the wrist. [The attitude is] ‘mate, that was a good option, the wind was howling that way’.”
Even in the first-innings mishap he sensed logic. “I knew there was a new ball coming and it looks as though I’d exposed Chris Woakes [at No.8] but, at that point, if I’d hit another couple of sixes in that over, you’re taking all the momentum into the new ball. The second new ball can bring wickets but it can increase the scoring rate as well. There’s always a little bit of calculated thinking behind it.”
England’s brains trust keeps that calculation deliberately simple. Stokes described himself and McCullum as “a simple-minded pair” after Headingley, reiterating that stripping away clutter allows batters and bowlers alike to decide, commit, and live with the outcome.
For Smith, still only 24 and on his fourth Test, the approach feels tailor-made. He grew up hitting from the top of the bounce for Surrey, and is now told not to file the edges away. “You can’t fake being aggressive,” a senior team-mate remarked off-mic; the keeper-batter plainly agrees.
Whether the method survives India’s inevitable counter-punch at Lord’s next week remains to be seen. Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Jadeja collectively had England eight down inside 50 overs in the first innings. Yet the counter-argument is already inked on the scorecard: if the hosts can rattle along at 4.5 an over, the pressure flips quickly enough.
That delicate balance – freedom without chaos – is the tightrope England value. For now, Smith’s last-over flourish stands as proof that daring, when thought through, can still be the safest option on offer.
