Tom Smith earns Trent Rockets call up

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Assistant Coach, Tom Smith, is set to link up with Trent Rockets ahead of their first Hundred match in the Club’s history.

Smith has been drafted in as part of the coaching staff to help ensure that the Rockets squad are fully prepared for their 2021 campaign opener against Southern Brave on Saturday, July 24.

The Foxes man will join Trent Rockets for a total of eight days throughout July and August and will work with the likes of Wahab Riaz, Rashid Khan, Matthew Carter, Sam Cook, Luke Wood and Timm van der Gugten as the Trent Bridge side's frontline bowling attack.

Upon joining the Rockets’ backroom staff, Smith said: “It is a fantastic opportunity, The Hundred looks like an exciting competition and no one quite knows how it is going to go.

“To get a chance to be involved with international coaches, international players and some of the best domestic players around is a real honour as a coach.”

The former-Lancashire man did admit that he had to spend time learning the new format before meeting up with the squad at Trent Bridge for the first time: “I have been doing a bit of swotting up, I’ve been looking at the rules and the differences between The Hundred and any other format ahead of meeting up with the squad, so hopefully that will prepare me well.”

Not only is Smith looking at this opportunity from a personal perspective, but he is also aware fully of the benefits that this could have on his young attack at the Uptonsteel County Ground. He said: “To go there and work with some of the biggest names in the game, it would be great to then come back and pass on some nuggets of information to our lads, or some different ideas and a different way of thinking similar to the guys who play international cricket.”

Despite linking up with Trent Rockets for The Hundred, a competition that runs alongside the Running Foxes' Royal London Cup campaign, Smith will still fulfil his duties at Leicestershire CCC and will continue to work with the squad throughout the one day campaign.

Tom Smith and the Trent Rockets get their campaign up and running on Saturday, July 24 and all of us at Leicestershire CCC wish them the very best of luck for the competition.