England wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Smith has said that missing out on IPL 2026 could help him focus on red ball cricket, as he prepares for the upcoming Test season at home.Smith, who went unsold in the IPL auction, said he initially wanted to be part of the league but now sees the break as useful ahead of England’s Test summer, which begins against New Zealand in June.
“At the moment, I would definitely have loved (to go to the IPL). It’s my desire to strengthen all aspects of my game, and I see the IPL as something that can really enhance the white ball and have benefits for the red ball (game)”, Smith said, as quoted.“But in hindsight, yes, it’s great to come here and have a block of red ball (cricket) behind me. I felt at the back end of the summer and in the winter, technically, I felt a bit out.“It’s nice to come here (the Oval) and work on a few things, and then hopefully I’ll be able to implement them for six or seven (County Championship) games, and we’ll see where we go if there’s any England stuff after that. But, yeah, it’s good to have a bit of a block to try and get things right,” Smith was quoted as saying by NCSP on Wednesday.Smith had a difficult Ashes series in Australia, scoring 211 runs in five Tests with a half-century as 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.Reflecting on the tour, Smith spoke about the physical and mental demands of the long Test series.“Mistakes are going to happen. The India series was very tough physically and mentally. It was my first five-Test series.“Also, we were on the field for 22 out of 25 days or something stupid, and all the Tests lasted (five days). By the end, it was just real exhaustion: I just gave up physically and mentally from all that stuff. From there, learning was how to make sure that from the first game to the last game, your standards are still high,” Simi said.“It was the same in Australia to be honest. I know some games didn’t last as long as people expected or wanted, but again, I don’t think my standards have dropped too much,” he added.
