Feb 20, 2012

One of three newcomers to the Essex ranks for the forthcoming 2012 season, all-rounder Greg Smith is raring to go as he prepares to help his new county deliver silverware this season.

Although he is in new surroundings at Chelmsford following his move from Derbyshire, the 28 year-old will have the sound of familiar accents around him having been joined by fellow Proteas players Charl Willoughby and Alviro Petersen in a side determined to shrug off what proved to be a disappointing season in 2011.

Greg has no doubt that the new faces will show themselves to be inspiring additions to the squad.

"I first met Charl when we were in opposition back in South Africa when I started my first-class cricket but he's been in England for some while now and proved to be a very good and effective bowler in English conditions," he said. "He'll be a very useful asset to our bowling line-up.

"Getting Alviro in for the first couple of months was an excellent piece of work because signing overseas players nowadays is proving quite tricky for the coaches because of the IPL and all the various international tours. He's obviously got a bit of time off before the Test series between England and South Africa this summer and I think he'll be terrific capture for us.

"He's a very good player and he'll score a lot of runs."

Greg, who signed for Essex at the end of last season having been with Derbyshire for 8 years, believes that his new team mates can help him realise his dream of winning trophies. "Playing in a winning side is something that I've always wanted," he admitted. "The squad as a whole is very strong, certainly the strongest that I've been involved in and we have so much depth throughout and that's very good for Essex Cricket.

"It means that we should be able to be consistent and players can take a rest occasionally and keep fresh. We should do well in limited-overs games and when you look at the squad, you think that these guys should be playing first division Championship cricket and that's where I want to be.

I really think that we can win something this year and that's one of the reasons I came here - to win trophies."

The Johannesburg player who bats right-handed and bowls right arm fast medium also offers the team the option of spin being a useful off-break bowler and in preparation for a demanding campaign ahead, he enjoyed a winter's rest to recharge his batteries.

"I went back to South Africa for a few months to get a break and have some fun and just rested up the body giving it a chance to recover from a couple of little niggling injuries," he explained. "I didn't play a lot of cricket apart from a few club cricket games but I did play a lot of golf.  But I've been back here for a few weeks now and I'm really looking forward to the season. It's going to be a long season but hopefully it will be a good and successful one for Essex, and I can't wait to get started."