England's Smith feels IPL omission could prove to be a blessing in disguise ahead of home summer

London, March 18 (IANS) England wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith believes missing out on a place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 could prove to be a blessing in disguise, adding that time at home would give him a valuable block of red-ball preparation ahead of the Test summer starting in June against New Zealand.

Smith had a difficult Ashes series, managing just 211 runs and a single half-century across five Tests as Australia won 4-1. After going unsold at last year’s IPL auction, Smith was subsequently dropped from England's white-ball squads for their tour to Sri Lanka and the Men’s T20 World Cup.

"At the time, I would have definitely liked to have gone (to the IPL). It's an ambition of mine to strengthen all sides of my game, and I see the IPL as something that can really enhance the white-ball side and does have benefits for the red-ball (game).

"But in hindsight, yeah, it's fantastic to come here and have a block of red-ball (cricket) behind me. I felt that towards the back end of the summer and into the winter, technically, I felt a little bit out of kilter.

"It's been nice to come here (The Oval) and work on a couple of things, and then I'll be able to hopefully implement them, for six or seven (County Championship) games, and we'll see where we get to if there's any England stuff after that. But, yeah, it's nice to have a little block to try and get things right," Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo on Wednesday.

Smith's Ashes trip in Australia was not without its difficult moments. He dropped a straightforward chance of Travis Head as England slipped to a heavy defeat at the Gabba and drew widespread criticism for pulling a Marnus Labuschagne bouncer to deep extra cover in Sydney - a shot widely regarded as one of the more regrettable dismissals of the series.

He was candid about the experience of playing in Australia, but stopped short of being overly self-critical, pointing to the cumulative toll of featuring in back-to-back long Test series. "Mistakes are going to happen. The India series was physically and mentally very tough. It was my first five-Test series.

“Also, we were out in the field for 22 out of 25 days or something stupid, and all the Tests lasted (five days). By the end, it was just actual exhaustion: I was just knackered physically and mentally from all that had gone. From there, the learning was how to make sure that from the first to the last game, your standards are still as high as possible?

“It was similar in Australia, to be honest. I know a few of the games didn't last as long as people were expecting or wanting, but again, I don't feel like my standards were down too much," he added.

Smith acknowledged his personal returns fell short of what was required of him, while also crediting Australia's performance across the series. "It was tough. You go on a tour like that with high expectations of trying to do as well as you can, and it didn't pan out that way.

“Obviously, I would have loved to have put some more returns there across five games for us to win a few more games, but the reality is that didn't happen, and I didn't play as well as I wanted to or was required for the team. It's obviously disappointing, but you can take that as a learning experience.

“You are playing against a world-class team as well, and I think sometimes that gets lost a little bit, how good the opposition is. It's learning, but I'm coming into (the season) fresh, and I love being back at Surrey and playing here," he concluded.

--IANS

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