"It won't bother me at all" - Jamie Smith open to batting at No. 6 against Sri Lanka in Ben Stokes' absence
England's wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith has asserted that he is open to moving up the order to No. 6 in Ben Stokes' absence in the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka. The 24-year-old is confident of falling back on his County experience in case the challenge is thrown at him.
England will have to tweak their playing XI for the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka, beginning on August 21, with skipper Stokes being ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury he picked up during The Hundred.
Smith made an impressive Test debut against West Indies in July in a home series. Sharing his thoughts on the possibility of batting at No. 6 against Sri Lanka in the absence of Stokes, he said (as quoted by ESPNcricinfo):
"It won't bother me at all. One of the things that's been great in my career so far is I feel like I've batted in a variety of different positions and roles anyway, and I've gained some of these experiences. They might be at a lesser level in the County Championship, but I still feel like I've been able to adapt and get some experience under my belt - and the difference between No. 7 and No. 6 isn't a massively great one anyway."
The 24-year-old contributed 207 runs in four innings during the Test series against West Indies. He scored a memorable 70 on debut at Lord's and 95 in the third and final Test in Birmingham.
"It was mentally quite draining" - Jamie Smith reflects on Test debut
Apart from batting in the lower order, Smith was also England's designated stumper during the three-match series against West Indies. He admitted that the dual role of batting and keeping was mentally draining.
"The games didn't go five days, but for me, it was just mentally quite draining. It probably took more out of me than I was expecting, with all the emotions that came with it, the expectation, and a bit of added pressure… It's been different for me. Mentally and physically, it was quite a lot in three weeks, going from county cricket into that, and with the potential for more stuff to come," he commented in the same interview.
With England not naming a replacement for Stokes for the Test series against Sri Lanka, the hosts have the option to hand a Test debut to Jordan Cox at No. 6. Alternately, they could shift Smith and Chris Woakes up a spot in the batting order and replace Stokes with a pacer - Matthew Potts or Olly Stone.