Surrey will rely on Jamie Smith to keep wicket against Sussex after Ben Foakes suffered a soft tissue injury.
Regular wicketkeeper Ben Foakes has been ruled out of Surrey's County Championship clash with Sussex due to a soft tissue injury. The injury will prevent him from featuring in the match at the Kia Oval, which gets underway on Friday morning at 11:00 BST. Tom Lawes is also unavailable for the same reason, having sustained a soft tissue injury during last week's game against Essex. Foakes missed the final day of the Essex fixture after bowling two overs in a drawn match on Monday.
Jamie Smith, England’s Test wicketkeeper, is set to take over the gloves for Surrey in place of Foakes. Smith has played in all three of Surrey’s Championship matches this season but has not kept wicket in any of them so far. His last appearance as a wicketkeeper was during the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January, where England suffered a 4-1 series defeat. Despite his county role being secondary to Foakes, Smith has delivered strong batting performances, compiling 401 runs including two centuries.
Tom Lawes’ chances of breaking into the England squad for the first Test against New Zealand on 4 June have diminished following his injury. Lawes has managed just seven wickets in three Championship games, all of which concluded as high-scoring draws. His exclusion from the Surrey side means he will not feature at The Oval over the coming days. Gus Atkinson is also set to miss the match, having been rested as part of his ECB central contract obligations.
Only Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke has scored more runs in the County Championship this season than Jamie Smith, who has 401 runs to his name. Clarke currently sits on 449 runs, leading the competition’s batting charts. Smith’s batting form has contrasted with his county wicketkeeping role, where he has played second fiddle to Foakes, a wicketkeeper widely regarded as superior at domestic level. Despite this, Smith has been England’s primary wicketkeeper in all 20 of his Test appearances since his debut in 2024.