Birmingham [UK], July 6 : Jamie Smith produced a sensational performance with the bat in the ongoing Test match against India at Edgbaston, crafting a remarkable 272-run aggregate across both innings, now the highest ever by an England wicketkeeper in Test history.
Batting with maturity and flair from the lower-middle order, Smith remained unbeaten on 184 in the first innings and followed it up with another attacking 88 in the second, falling just short of a double century and a ton in the same match.
Smith has surpassed the previous England record for most runs by a wicketkeeper in a Test, crossing Alec Stewart's 204 runs against South Africa in 1998. He also went past the likes of Jonny Bairstow (199) and Alan Knott (197), both of whom had held significant match aggregates but now sit behind Smith in the all-time list.
Globally, Smith's total is now the third-highest match aggregate by any wicketkeeper in the history of Test cricket. Only Zimbabwe's Andy Flower has scored more in a single match, with staggering tallies of 341 runs against South Africa in Harare in 2001 and 287 against India in Nagpur in 2000. Smith also finds himself just ahead of India's Rishabh Pant, who had scored 252 runs against England in the first Test at Headingley.
Despite Smith's heroics, the match appears to be slipping away from England. Chasing a tough target of 608, they stumbled badly, and after Smith's dismissal, the hosts found themselves reeling at 226/8, still 382 runs left.