Jamie Smith: England won't move wicketkeeper up the order, says Brendon McCullum

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Asked whether Bethell could come in as an all-round option, the New Zealander added: "You never say never to do anything, right? But that's certainly not what we're looking at, at the moment, no."

Smith averages 58.64 in the 12 Tests he has played since making his debut last summer.

The 24-year-old is not the first-choice gloveman for his county Surrey, where he plays as a specialist batter at number four.

The swashbuckling unbeaten 184 he made against India in the second Test was an astonishing innings, a superb counter-attacking effort when England found themselves 84-5. It was both the highest score by an England wicketkeeper and number seven.

One possible move for England would be to move Smith to number three, the position occupied by Ollie Pope. Though Pope made a century in the first-Test defeat of India, he can be inconsistent and could swap with Smith, sliding down the order and keeping wicket, as he has for England in six previous Tests.

But McCullum, himself a former Test keeper, drew comparisons between Smith and Australia legend Adam Gilchrist, who also batted at seven.

"He does look world class," said McCullum. "When we made the decision to bring Jamie Smith into Test cricket, we were hopeful that he'd be able to have that sort of impact, obviously in the middle, but also being able to have the power that he's got with the tail too.

"You wouldn't have done that to Gilchrist, so I don't think we should do that to Smith."

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