England wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Smith says missing out on IPL 2026 may help him focus on red-ball cricket as he prepares for the upcoming Test season at home.
Smith, who was unsold at the IPL auction, said he had initially hoped to be part of the league but now sees a break ahead of England’s summer Test series (against New Zealand in June) as useful.
“At the time, I was definitely keen to go (to the IPL). My ambition was to strengthen all aspects of my game and I thought the IPL could really enhance the white-ball side and be really good for the red-ball (game),” Smith said.
“But in hindsight, yeah, it was great to come out here and have a red ball (cricket) behind me. I felt at the end of the summer and winter, technically, I felt a little bit off-balance.
“It’s nice to come to the Oval, do some things and then I’ll hopefully achieve them in six or seven (County Championship) games and we’ll see if there’s any England stuff after that. But yeah, it’s good to have a little bit of time to try and get things right,” Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo on Wednesday.
Smith endured a difficult Ashes series in Australia, scoring 211 runs with half centuries in five Tests, which Australia won 4-1. He was later left out of England’s white-ball squad for the tour of Sri Lanka and the men’s T20 World Cup.
Looking back on the tour, Smith spoke of the physical and mental demands of a long Test series.
“Mistakes happen. The India series is very tough physically and mentally. This is my first five-Test series.
“Also, we were on the court 22 of 25 days, or something silly, and all the testing lasted (five days). At the end of the day, it was just real exhaustion: I was just exhausted physically and mentally from all of that. From there, the learning was how to make sure that from the first game to the last game, your standards are still as high as possible,” Smith said.
“To be honest, it’s a similar situation in Australia. I know some games don’t last as long as people expect or want, but I don’t feel like my standards have dropped too much,” he added.