Rob Key has backed “rare talent” Jamie Smith to make the England wicketkeeper spot his own, after suggesting doubts about Jonny Bairstow dealing with the role’s physical demands led to him being axed from the Test side.
Surrey batter Smith is set to make his Test debut in the series-opener against West Indies at Lord’s next week, after yesterday being named in a 14-man squad that saw the most significant shakeup of the Bazball era yet.
Bairstow, who has played 100 Test matches, has been dropped, as has Ben Foakes, who kept throughout the winter’s tour of India and is first-choice ahead of Smith at Surrey.
“We’ve been watching Jamie Smith for quite some time,” said Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket. “You just see players who are rare talents and he looks like that.
“There’s a lot made of us just wanting someone who can go out there and play shots and not the case. We want someone who can not only up ante when they’re batting with the tail but soak up pressure when they need to as well and we feel Jamie Smith can do that.”
While Foakes was handed the gloves in India, where testing conditions bring his superior glove work to the fore, Bairstow was first-choice keeper during last year’s home Ashes.
The 34-year-old defied expectation to make it back from a horrific leg-break to start that series but initially looked rusty behind the stumps, leading to questions over his fitness. He has also just completed a gruelling run of three long stints in India across formats through the winter and spring, followed by the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
“Jonny needs to get back to what he was a couple of years ago,” said Key, referring to the 2022 home summer, when Bairstow launched the tenure of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum with a freakish run of four centuries in three Tests. “Generally, his form in all formats has been going in slightly the wrong direction. You want him to get back to what he was when Brendon and Ben started out.
“It’s an arduous task, being a keeper as well, so you want someone who can back up series after series and we weren’t convinced Jonny would be able to do that, especially at the stage of career he’s at.”
As well as Foakes and Bairstow, Smith has also edged out Durham’s in-form Ollie Robinson - who is averaging 78 in the County Championship this year - in the race for the gloves.
“Often you're not making judgements on what they've done,” Key explained. “You're making judgements on what they're going to do.
“Who's going to be the best player to do it in the cauldron of Test cricket against some of the best bowlers in the world? You don't always see that. You don't see the [Pat] Cummins, [Mitchell] Starc, [Josh] Hazlewood, the [Jasprit] Bumrahs, the [Mohammed] Shamis, playing county cricket. Our call really is on who do we think is the best player to play against those sorts of bowlers, to go and play in spinning conditions in Pakistan?
“We've seen a lot of Jamie Smith. We feel that he's got the game to be able to do that.”
While Key denied England’s selection for the West Indies series represents a “Bazball reset” there is a clear look to the future after the disappointment of a heavy 4-1 thrashing in India.
Young spinner Shoaib Bashir, who impressed on debut on that tour, has been picked ahead of Jack Leach and uncapped seamers Dillon Pennington and Gus Atkinson have also been included in the squad for a series that will start with James Anderson’s farewell Test.
“These are the people we think can take us forward, these are the people we think are going to play 50-plus Test matches,” Key added. “Now they might not, but at this point in time, these are the people we think are going to take English cricket forward in Test cricket.”
Key also confirmed that England hope to have Mark Wood available to replace the retiring Anderson from the Second Test onwards, with the most prolific Test seamer of all-time set to stay on in a mentoring role through both the West Indies series and the three matches against Sri Lanka that follow later in the summer.
“It's something that he's very keen to do,” Key said. “He hasn't done loads and loads of it, but he's got no question about his knowledge and experience with bowling.
“We’ve got a great opportunity for the rest of the summer to find out just how much he enjoys it or doesn't enjoy it, really. Someone like Jimmy Anderson is going to have lots of options. I think English cricket would be very lucky if he chooses to stay in our game.”
