Nottinghamshire batsman Greg Smith is aiming to add another string to his bow ahead of the 2015 season by heading to Sri Lanka for five weeks of first class cricket with Colombo Cricket Club, the country’s oldest club.
Smith, who signed for Nottinghamshire from Leicestershire at the end of the 2014 campaign, will test himself in challenging conditions for the third time, having made this trip ahead of the previous two county seasons.
“It’s a trip that has worked well for me for the last couple of year,” he said.
“I’ve gone and played first class cricket in the subcontinent for a couple of sides, this will be my third trip, and I’ve found in the past that it has definitely made me a better player.
“Unsurprisingly it has helped my game against spin, if they see an English top order batsman they don’t wait long to bowl a spinner. It’s a good challenge. I like the lifestyle out there, it’s a good spot and I’m going with Michael Richardson from Durham and the two of us will live and train together, playing for Colombo cricket club for the next five weeks.”
Smith is gaining a reputation for being one of the more adventurous members of the Nottinghamshire dressing room. As well as this trip to Sri Lanka, in October he swapped a couple of weeks on the beach for a month backpacking in South America.
“Being at Leicester for the last five years made me realise that the world is a much bigger place than Leicester,” said Smith.
"Playing at Leicester, I realised the world is a much bigger place than just Leicester. Some of my teammates didn't agree with me." - Greg Smith.
“Some of the others in that dressing room didn’t agree with me, but I like to get out and see the world. I was backpacking for a month with my girlfriend; we went to Chile and Bolivia.
“I’ve got a bye weekend in Sri Lanka too, so I’d like to go out exploring, I’ll take my backpack with me.
“It’s a good opportunity to see some of the world and I look forward to it.”
Crucially, Smith will look to use his opportunity in Sri Lanka to better prepare himself for another busy summer of cricket with Nottinghamshire. After making the step up into division one, he will need to impress against better opposition and force his way into the Outlaws’ side.
Where a number of his teammates will be in the midst of a winter of training at Trent Bridge, Smith is hoping that his time in testing conditions will set him in good stead for the summer.
“I’m a professional cricketer, I love playing cricket. I can only get so excited lifting weights in the gym and playing in the indoor school,” he said.
“It want to expose myself to playing tough cricket, it gets up to 40 degrees out there, you’re testing yourself and I wouldn’t be going back if I hadn’t seen the positive results before.
“If you’re scoring hundreds out in Sri Lanka, that holds a bit of weight. I’m under no illusions that I’m going to have to scrap for spots in the starting XI here at Notts and if I can come back with first class runs under my belt that’s only going to push my case.
"I’ll have a week or two off after the Sri Lanka trip then its straight to Barbados and into the season. My 2015 is really starting to take shape, and come April 12th I want to be as ready as I can be.”