When they were children, best friends Clay Smith and Dean Minors were just like any other cricket-mad youngsters.

The inseparable duo would bat and bowl against each other all day long — Clay would be England and Dean the West Indies — until their mums called them in for tea.

Back then the thought of pitting their skills against the best players on the planet must have seemed like the stuff of dreams.

Three decades on and the pair are just days away from seeing the fantasy become a reality as Bermuda’s cricket team prepares for its historic first appearance in the World Cup.

Smith, now 36, and Minors, 37, are about to put the talents they honed all those years ago to the test against some of the finest cricketers the world has ever seen.

According to the players’ wives, their friendship remains as tight as ever.

Nicole Smith, 35, an accountant and teacher, has been married to batsman Clay for 11 years and can vouch for what it all means to him.

“Clay has been playing cricket since he was able to walk, either with his older brothers or with Dean,” said Mrs. Smith.

“He always tells me Dean was West Indies and he was England. They used to play the whole time. Cricket has always meant so much to them both.

“Clay’s a fun-loving person but when it comes down to cricket, that’s his passion and it’s all about business for him. A lot of people mistake that for arrogance or rudeness.

“But ultimately when he doesn’t do well he gets very upset at himself. He doesn’t like to fail for himself or his country.”

Similar characteristics shine through wicketkeeper Minors, who admitted he felt the side “let the country down” after Bermuda’s 241-run drubbing by England last week.

His wife Crystal, 31, an educator at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, said: “He’s highly critical of himself. He’s the biggest analyst on how well he does.”

On his friendship with Clay, she said: “They have been tight forever. Most people associate them together, it’s like a running joke.”

The friendship has long since spilled over into their family lives, and Mrs. Smith says she often refers to herself as “Dean’s other wife”.

“I have become part of the best friends club with Crystal,” said Mrs. Smith.

Tragically, both men have lost their mothers in the past year. They have received excellent support from their families, and from each other, but the absence of their biggest fans of all in Trinidad will leave a huge gap.

Mrs. Smith said: “Their mothers were their prayer warriors. Their sons were their worlds. It’s hard for them not having them there.”

But she added: “I’m their prayer warrior now. God has a plan for everything they do and there’s nowhere else to go for us than up.”

Mrs. Minors said: “Family is important to Dean. You can guarantee he will attribute this experience to his mother. She was his rock.

“When he lost her last year, it was difficult. In his heart of hearts, he would want her always there, but we believe she’s looking down on him.”

The wives say Smith and Minors are all the more emotional because of the heartbreak they suffered after Bermuda’s narrow failure to qualify for the 1996 tournament in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“I can remember in 1994, they were in Kenya,” said Mrs. Smith. “They had scored all of those runs and thought they were on the verge of qualifying, but then the other team passed the score and they lost.

“It’s been a dream for Clay and Dean since way back then. I hear them talking now and they can’t believe they’re in the World Cup. Their dream has finally come true. It’s really exciting.

“When they were youngsters, they were in the team and had nothing to lose — they had no pressure, they batted and did well.

“Now they are the senior players and I look at the youngsters like OJ (Pitcher) and Delyone (Borden). They are both friends like Clay and Dean. I feel they will do very well. They have got years to go in the national squad.”

They may be the other halves of men who are about to make history, but Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Minors, as well as Daniela Romaine, wife of the captain, Irving, are all keeping their own feet firmly on the ground.

They will join their husbands in the Caribbean tomorrow but won’t be going out of their way to copy the glamorous image made popular by sporting wives such as Victoria Beckham.

Mrs. Romaine, 35, said her husband’s sporting success had not changed their relationship.

“There’s nothing new except that Irving’s away from home more than usual,” she said.

She said she would not be looking to stand out in the Trinidadian crowd.

Describing herself as a “happy spectator” rather than a cheerleader, she said: “I want to go out and be a face among faces. I don’t want no special attention.”

In fact, Mrs. Romaine, a reporting accountant, dropped a hint she’s not that keen on watching cricket at all, when she admitted: “I show up towards the end of the game. I can’t really sit outside in the sun all day, baking, when there’s other things I need to take care of, like the family.”

She does confess, however, to “not getting much work done” while watching Bermuda’s final qualification game on the Internet, and running around her office in excitement at the end.

The players will be supported by some of their children in Trinidad, although others will have to cheer them on from home.

Romaine’s two-year-old daughter Gabby is flying over, as well as Minors’ two-year-old son Dorian.

Minors’ nine-year-old daughter Jazz and Smith’s three children, 17-year-old Clay, 12-year-old Jonte and nine-year-old Hailey, will all be staying in Bermuda.

Mrs. Smith explained: “They’ve just got too much work to do to fly over and they are not very happy. My mum will be watching them, and I may say ‘let them stay home for the day to watch it’.”

As for the wives, it’s going to be an exciting few days which promises ups as well as downs.

“I will be nervous,” said Mrs. Minors. “I love watching him field, but I can’t take watching him bat. Everything’s going to be multiplied at the World Cup, so I’ll be a bunch of nerves.”

Mrs. Romaine said: “I just hope they do their best and don’t get hurt! Just come home like you left.

“I hope they get as much experience out of it as they can and learn as many techniques to take with them and pass onto others. I’m not looking for miracles.”

Mrs. Smith has slightly higher ambitions.

“I will probably cry just to see them walk out on the field,” she said. “But just being at the World Cup is not good enough for me. I can speak for my husband and it’s not good enough for him either.

“They don’t want to go on the world stage and be embarrassed. This is something new for them. Yes, the others are professionals, but this is a learning experience and they want to learn how to be professionals themselves.”

She added that the adventure is about more than just cheering for her husband.

“It’s never about Clay to me, it’s about the team, and Bermuda as a whole, putting Bermuda on the map,” she said.

“We talk about problems in Bermuda and the youth and drugs. But this can give them something to look forward to. If they know they can be a cricketer, things can be different.

“These players can be role models. It doesn’t have to stop after the World Cup. I hope that we continue to have professional cricketers.

“The children at school come to me and say: ‘How’s Mr. Smith doing?’ and I say: ‘This is an opportunity for you guys.’”