Smith says missing IPL a blessing in disguise ahead of Tests

London — England wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith believes going unsold in the IPL 2026 auction may ultimately serve his career well, providing an uninterrupted window to refine the red-ball skills that will be central to an English summer headlined by a three-Test series against New Zealand starting in June.

Speaking at The Oval on Wednesday, Smith admitted he had initially hoped to attract an IPL deal and still views the tournament as a valuable proving ground. “At the time, I would have definitely liked to have gone,” he said. “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.”

Yet the 24-year-old quickly recalibrated once the auction passed him by. “In hindsight, yeah, it’s fantastic to come here and have a block of red-ball cricket behind me,” he explained. “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 and work on a couple of things, and then I’ll be able to implement them for six or seven County Championship games. We’ll see where we get to if there’s any England stuff after that.”

Smith’s renewed focus on the longer format follows a taxing introduction to Test cricket. He scored 211 runs with one half-century during England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, and was later omitted from both the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka and the Men’s T20 World Cup squad. The gruelling schedule, he said, left its mark.

“Mistakes are going to happen,” he reflected. “The India series was physically and mentally very tough. It was my first five-Test series. 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 actual exhaustion: I was just knackered physically and mentally.”

Smith believes the experience has sharpened his awareness of what elite standards require over an extended campaign. “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,” he said. “It was similar in Australia. I know a few of the games didn’t last as long as people were expecting, but again, I don’t feel like my standards were down too much.”

With no IPL distractions and a clear run of county fixtures ahead, Smith now has the chance to convert those lessons into consistent performances at the crease and behind the stumps, setting his sights firmly on a pivotal home Test season.