"Jamie Smith is like a goalkeeper"- Nasser Hussain's cold-stone verdict on England wicketkeeper

Published - 12 Jul 2024, 05:51 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:15 AM

Jamie Smith, Nasser Hussain, England,
Jamie Smith and Nasser Hussain

England legend Nasser Hussain has hailed Jamie Smith after his fabulous Test debut for England in the ENG vs WI 1st Test. Nasser Hussain hailed Jamie Smith and said he is like a goalkeeper and he was impressed with his stint in the match.

Jamie Smith is a wicketkeeper-batsman who made his Test debut in England vs West Indies 1st Test in Lord's. The right-handed batsman shattered 70 runs in the 1st innings and also played the role of wicketkeeper in the match.

Smith slammed 8 boundaries and 2 fours during his knock and played a total of 119 balls for his half-century. Notably, he had also played 2 ODIs in the past but it was his first Test for England. Earlier, he scored 9 runs in the only ODI he batted.

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Nasser Hussain impressed with Jamie Smith's performance on debut

During a chat with Sky Sports Cricket, cricketer-turned-commentator Naseer Hussain hailed Jamie Smith for his spectacular start to Test cricket. Hussain was very impressed and never doubted Smith for his international career.

"Very impressed. I was never overly doubtful. You never know from county cricket to international cricket how they will cope with pace or the, more importantly, just the atmosphere and the pressure of the situation making your Test debut as a batter", he said.

"If anyone's seen him in the last couple of years bat at Surrey in any format, they will tell you, speak to players, ex-players, umpires, they will say this lad is pretty special. So what impressed me was his keeping as well. It's like a goalkeeper that you don't mention means he's had a pretty good game", he further added.

Jamie Smith better tailender batter than Ben Foakes, feels Hussain

Naseer Hussain, who is also one of the commentators in the England vs West Indies series, also feels Jamie Smith is a better batter at the tail than Ben Foakes and that is why the management picked him as the wicketkeeper.

"So he's had a good game at a difficult ground to keep, but his batting, especially with the tail, I think that's why they moved on from Ben Foakes, who Stokes described as the best keeper in world cricket".

"So why are they moving on? It's just that batting with the tail when you need to kick on and you need to put the bowlers under pressure. That's exactly what Jamie Smith did yesterday", Hossain concluded.

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England defeat West Indies by 114 runs

Meanwhile, England defeated West Indies by an innings and 114 runs in the 1st Test. The Caribbean side was all-out for 121 in the 1st innings. Later, England came up with a total of 371-10, gaining a huge margin.

Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, and Jamie Smith scored half-centuries for the side. Later, the home team bowled out West Indies for 136-10 in the 2nd innings and won the match with an innings to go. Gus Atkinson won the Player of the Match award.

Tagged:

Jamie Smith Nasser Hussain England National Cricket Team West Indies National Cricket Team Ben Foakes England vs West Indies ENG vs WI West Indies tour of England