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Feature

Was Jamie Smith's shot the worst dismissal of England's Ashes tour?

Brainfades from England batters have been a regular feature of the 2025-26 series in Australia

Matt Roller
Matt Roller
05-Jan-2026 • Updated on 07-Jan-2026
Jamie Smith got out in culpable fashion, Australia vs England, 5th Test, Sydney, January 5, 2025

A set Jamie Smith gave his wicket away to part-timer Marnus Labsuchagne  •  Getty Images

It is rare for any wicket to reflect well on a batter but England have lost several to brainfades across the 2025-26 Ashes series, epitomised by Jamie Smith's ugly swipe to deep extra cover off Marnus Labuschagne's short ball on the second morning in Sydney. Was that the single worst dismissal of England's tour? Here are our top 10, plus a new entry from Will Jacks in England's second innings.
11. BA Stokes run out (Inglis) 19
(Brisbane, 1st inns)
Joe Root and Ben Stokes had batted together for over an hour to lead England's recovery from 176 for 4 on a good batting pitch in Brisbane, grinding out two runs per over against Australia's seamers. Desperate to rotate strike, Stokes pushed Brendan Doggett into the off side and set off for a single that was never on and was run out by a direct hit from the swooping Josh Inglis, and 210 for 4 quickly became 264 for 9.
10. HC Brook b Lyon 30
(Adelaide, 2nd inns)
Harry Brook pledged to "rein it in a little bit" ahead of the third Test in Adelaide, after two dismissals playing "shocking shots" in Perth and Brisbane (see below). But after putting on 68 with Zak Crawley on a docile pitch, sweeping and reverse-sweeping with precision and poise, he picked the wrong ball to reverse and lost his leg stump to Nathan Lyon's drag-down, then stood at the crease bemused as to what had happened.
9. JL Smith c Cummins b Starc 60
(Adelaide, 2nd inns)
Smith had hit boundaries off four successive balls when facing the second new ball during England's attempted chase of 435 in Adelaide, but was caught by a back-pedalling Pat Cummins as he looked to swipe his fifth in a row off Mitchell Starc. Stokes offered public support of Smith's decision-making but Ricky Ponting was unimpressed: "Dopey, dopey, dopey," he sighed on Channel 7's coverage.
8. OJ Pope b Starc 0
(Brisbane, 1st inns)
Ollie Pope repeatedly highlighted the need for "complete clarity" during his media commitments before the second Test in Brisbane but played like a man with a scrambled mind. With England 5 for 1 in the third over, he attempted a jumping cut to a ball from Starc that shaped back in to cramp him for room, skewed off his under-edge, and crashed into his leg stump.
7. Z Crawley c&b Neser 44
(Brisbane, 2nd inns)
England's top order continued to drive on the up despite mounting evidence of its perils across the first two Tests, and Crawley's dismissal on the third evening at the Gabba was particularly mindless. After watching Michael Neser drop Ben Duckett off his own bowling, then dismiss Pope in the same manner, Crawley played a hard-handed drive off a good-length ball and chipped back another catch.
6. AAP Atkinson c Smith b Doggett 3
(Brisbane, 2nd inns)
Gus Atkinson watched Stokes and Will Jacks dig in for a session and a half on the fourth day in Brisbane, then decided he would try to take on Australia's short-ball ploy straight after both men were dismissed. With multiple boundary-riders lining up on the leg side, he took on Doggett's short ball and pulled it straight to Steven Smith, who barely had to move at short midwicket.
Atkinson is the only lower-order batter to feature on this list, but is a good enough batter to have scored a Test century.
5. HC Brook c Smith b Starc 31
(Brisbane, 1st inns)
Brook had raced to 31 on the opening day in Brisbane with a gung-ho start to his innings, and decided that Starc's return for a twilight spell with the pink ball presented him with a perfect opportunity to assert his dominance. Starc's first ball to Brook was a wide half-volley which he attempted to launch over cover on the drive; instead, all he managed was a thick outside edge to second slip.
4. OJ Pope c Inglis b Lyon 3
(Adelaide, 1st inns)
Pope was retained for the third Test despite scores of 0 and 26 in the second, but his first-innings dismissal underlined that he was mentally shot. After a loose waft outside off stump off Scott Boland, he attempted to whip his second ball from Nathan Lyon into the leg side to get off strike but instead chipped tamely to Inglis at short midwicket. He threw his head back in disbelief, but it was all too credible.
3. HC Brook c Khawaja b Boland 0
(Perth, 2nd inns)
England's lead was 126 with seven second-innings wickets in hand when Brook walked out after lunch on the second day in Perth, having seen Pope caught behind driving loosely off Boland. As though unaware of what had just happened, Brook attempted a flat-footed cover drive to his third ball - which bounced steeply from a good length - and edged to slip. "It was nearly a bouncer and I tried to drive it," he later reflected.
2. WG Jacks c Green b Webster 0
(Sydney, 2nd inns)
Will Jacks sat and watched a partnership worth 102 between Brook and Jacob Bethell give England a lead in their second innings at the SCG, and was promoted to No. 6 due to Stokes' groin complaint. He decided to slog-sweep his second ball, and was caught at deep square leg after top-edging his ugly hoick down Cameron Green's throat. "Will Jacks, how do you walk back into that dressing room?" Ponting asked on commentary. "It's a rank slog."
1. JL Smith c Boland b Labuschagne 46
(Sydney, 1st inns)
Australia brought Labuschagne into the attack with four overs to go before lunch on the second day in Sydney - and six overs before the second new ball was due - to bowl bouncers in a bold attempt to break a substantial partnership. Smith responded by shimmying outside leg stump and swiping a tame 80mph/129kph short ball straight down Boland's throat at deep extra cover.
It was particularly dozy batting after an earlier reprieve, when Smith had driven a front-foot no-ball from Cameron Green straight to short cover. Justin Langer, who has coached Smith at London Spirit, labelled his dismissal "one of the dumbest shots you'll ever see in Test cricket".
Jamie SmithWill JacksBen StokesHarry BrookZak CrawleyOllie PopeGus AtkinsonAustraliaEnglandAustralia vs EnglandICC World Test ChampionshipThe Ashes

Matt Roller is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

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