In 27 years of reporting on the England Test workforce, this is why Jamie Smith’s automobile crash of a dismissal is the WORST shot I’ve seen, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH

It takes a lot for a painting-by-numbers 46 to overshadow a masterpiece 160, but Jamie Smith gave it a go on a wildly oscillating second day at the SCG.

Even as a crowd of 46,000 were acknowledging Joe Root’s second century of the series, a stunning effort that lifted England to 384, it was hard to expunge from the memory the horror of Smith’s dismissal moments before lunch.

In 27 years of reporting on the Test team, this observer couldn’t recall a worse shot by a member of England’s top seven, not when every factor is taken into consideration.

The timing was bad enough, with Root in complete control on 129 at the other end, and lunch just 10 minutes away. The second new ball was available in less than six overs, and a sixth-wicket stand already worth 94 had helped England to an imposing 323 for five – a triumph from 57 for three, and even from 229 for five after the early dismissals of Harry Brook for 84 and Ben Stokes for a duck.

Perhaps worse was the identity of the bowler. Marnus Labuschagne is a No 3 batsman who very occasionally sends down leg-breaks. Here, he was indulging his fantasy of bowling seam in the New Year’s Test, as Australia tried to hurry their way towards the new ball and repair some of the damage to a sluggish over-rate.

His fourth delivery could be generously described as a half-tracker, which Smith launched, tennis-style, towards deep cover. Scott Boland, the only fielder in front of square on the off side, barely had to move, leaving Smith to drag himself off after a car crash of an innings in which he had been caught at cover off a Cameron Green no-ball on 22, then flashed the next between wicketkeeper and slip.

Jamie Smith slaps the ball to Scott Boland at deep extra cover off the part-time bowling of Marnus Labuschagne to bring his car-crash of an innings to an end at the SCG  

Labuschagne (left) cannot believe his luck as Smith (right) trudges off

Had he survived until lunch, and beyond, England might have reached 450. Instead, despite the excellence of Root and a fighting 27 from Will Jacks, they had to settle for significantly fewer. To make matters worse, Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts served up a session of tripe in the evening gloom as Travis Head hurried Australia to 166 for two at nearly five an over.

It has not been a happy first Ashes series for Smith, who dropped Head on three at Brisbane, and was branded ‘dopey’ by Ricky Ponting after he was caught at mid-on in the second innings at Adelaide. He has been criticised by Matt Prior for his tepid body language, and averaged just 23 – well below his career mark of 42.

Is he simply exhausted after a pair of gruelling five-match series against India and Australia, or is his decision-making in key moments not up to scratch? Already dropped from the white-ball set-up, he may now face competition for his Test spot from Somerset’s Jamie Rew and Essex’s Jordan Cox.

With Root at the other end, providing a free tutorial in real time, it felt worryingly instructive that Smith should take such a risk, and it was left to Root himself to defend his team-mate. ‘It was about maximising the 10-over period ahead of facing the second new ball,’ he said. ‘There’s method in what we’re trying to do. When it doesn’t come off, it can look a certain way. But you’re never playing to get out, and your job is not to survive: it’s to score runs.

‘I can understand why whenever someone loses their wicket, you’ll be frustrated. But no one is more frustrated than the guy who’s lost his wicket. I understand people will see the game differently, but that was an opportunity, and I back him 100 per cent to take it next time. It’s very easy to over-analyse, but if you make a mistake you make sure you don’t make the same mistake again. And that’s the art of the game sometimes.’

How easy Root had made it look. Only five days into 2026, and he was already Test cricket’s leading run-scorer for the year, having added a superlative 160 to the unbeaten 138 he made in Brisbane, and reduced to fewer than 2,000 the gap between him and Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the game’s most cherished list.    

It was an important innings, both collectively and personally, shepherding England towards a respectable total, and silencing those who felt he had reverted to his Australian norm after finally registering his first hundred here at the 30th attempt.

His scores since then had been 15, 19, 39, 0 and 15, as if Brisbane had been a blip. But if there was any doubt before – and there wasn’t, really, not among serious observers – there can be none now. 

Smith was defended by Joe Root. ‘There’s method in what we’re trying to do,’ the former England captain said. ‘When it doesn’t come off, it can look a certain way. But your job is not to survive: it’s to score runs’

By hitting his second century of the series, Root confirmed what was already obvious: he is an all-time great, made greater here for being surrounded by a misfiring top order

By scoring two centuries in his series, his 40th and 41st overall, he has confirmed what was already obvious: he is an all-time great, made greater here for being surrounded by a misfiring top order.    

While Root’s series average stood at just under 50 by the end of England’s first innings, no one else has averaged above 40, and only Harry Brook and Zak Crawley (just) have averaged more than 30.

Brook demonstrated why he is still a place behind Root in the Test rankings by adding only six to his overnight 78 and playing a loose nibble at Boland which hinted at a lack of patience. The Sydney pitch seemed to have quickened up on the second morning, yet Brook threw away the chance of a first Ashes hundred because he failed to reacquaint himself with the conditions.

Root, by contrast, expertly assessed the situation and adapted accordingly, pausing only – perhaps – to wonder why on earth Smith took leave of his senses at such a crucial moment of a game England desperately want to win.