Ashes disappointment has Smith hungry for more at Test level

England wicket-keeper Jamie Smith has revealed his disappointment surrounding his first Ashes tour of Australia as he looks ahead to try and cement his spot in the Test side for the upcoming home summer.

Smith struggled for consistency during the recent Ashes series Down Under as England fell to a 4-1 defeat, with the right-hander managing just 211 runs across the five Tests at an average of 23.44 and grassing some chances behind the stumps that would normally be taken.

The Ashes defeat left England's hopes of reaching the next ICC World Test Championship Final in 2027 hanging by a thread, with the side currently sitting in seventh place on the standings ahead of a busy home summer that will feature three-match series against New Zealand and Pakistan.

While Smith was disappointed with his output in Australia, the 25-year-old is keen to use the tour as a learning experience as he tries to lock down his role as first-choice keeper in England's Test XI.

"It (the Ashes series) was tough," Smith told ESPN Cricinfo.

"You go to a tour like that with high expectations of trying to do as well as you can, and it didn't pan out that way. Obviously I would have loved to have put some more returns there across five games for us to win a few more games, but the reality is that didn't happen, and I didn't play as well as I wanted to or was required for the team.

"It's obviously disappointing, but you can take that as a learning experience. You are playing against a world-class as well, and I think sometimes that gets lost a little bit, how good the opposition is. It's learning, but I'm coming into (the home summer) fresh and I love being back at (County side) Surrey and playing here."

With Smith missing out on selection for the recent ICC Men's T20 World Cup and a contract in the upcoming Indian Premier League, it leaves the hard-hitting batter with the opportunity to regain his best form in England's County Championship competition with local side Surrey when they commence their domestic campaign at the start of next month.

Smith could feature in up to as many as seven matches for Surrey prior to a busy upcoming Test schedule for England and he is looking forward to using that time to fine-tune his craft.

"At the time, I would have definitely liked to have gone (to the IPL)," Smith said.

"It's an ambition of mine to strengthen all sides of my game, and I see the IPL as something that can really enhance the white-ball side and does have benefits again to the red-ball.

"But in hindsight it's fantastic to come here and have a block of red-ball (matches) behind me. I felt that towards the backend of the summer and into the winter, technically, I felt a little bit out of kilter.

"It's been nice to come here and work on a couple of things and then I'll be able to hopefully implement them, for six or seven (County Championship) games and we'll see where we get to if there's any England stuff after that. It's nice to have a little block to try and get things right."