TO most players, a shock promotion to No 3 in the England batting line-up for a crunch match would be a huge change.
But perhaps not for Jamie Smith – as he dropped a promising football career to become one of cricket‘s most exciting prospects.

Jamie Smith has raced up the England batting order to become No 3 for Saturday’s Champions Trophy opener against Australia

Smith will bat one up from Test legend Joe Root in the ODI

England are gambling by elevating the powerful hitter
Test legend Joe Root has been moved down to No 4 due to Smith’s rise up the order for Saturday’s Champions Trophy opener against Australia.
It will be only the second time the big-hitter has come in first wicket down in professional 50-over cricket.
Not only that, the 24-year-old will also take the gloves from Phil Salt, who will continue to open the batting alongside Ben Duckett.
But it’s nothing too dramatic for Smith – not compared to the major decision he made aged 15.
He was a highly-talented central midfielder for League Two club AFC Wimbledon.
And indeed as a kid football dominated his thoughts… until he became the first person in his family to play cricket.
Surrey CCC rated Smith so highly at the smaller-ball game that they picked him for their Under-17s when he was just 12.
The wicketkeeper-batsman revealed how it all began.

Smith faces a big task behind the stumps and with the bat
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
He once told the Mail: “No one in my family played cricket.
“I was pushed into a holiday camp with my local club, Sutton – something my parents did to keep me busy.”
However, he confessed: “I didn’t really want that to be the case, but I knew with my cricket that I had something a little bit special.
“I wasn’t naive. When you’re growing up, people push you for a reason.
“They’re putting you in higher teams, because they can see a talent in you.
‘It was getting to the point where football and cricket were overlapping too much.
“Going on pre-season tours with Surrey in March meant missing things. Doing both wasn’t sustainable.”
However, Smith revealed choosing cricket was partly down to a brutal self-assessment of his chances at football.
He said: “Walking into a contracts meeting with Wimbledon at the end of the season, knowing how the contracts worked, I was never going to get one.
“Everyone had their little percentage score for attendance and mine was 56.”
Now, however, that’s a figure he’d love to match for England at cricket, where he averages an impressive 42 in Tests and a modest 22 in ODIs.

England cricketer Smith was a youth footballer with AFC Wimbledon