NATIONAL team skipper Clay Smith underwent surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his left knee earlier this week.

Smith, who recently received a one-year sponsorship deal with leading cricketing manufacturers Kookaburra, said the operation was a complete success.

The St.David's player/coach now hopes to rejoin national team training in six to eight weeks time.

Smith will lead Bermuda in next year's World Cup qualifying tournament to be held on local soil.

"Basically I had a slight tear in my cartilage and the doctors had to go in and clean it up a bit," said Smith, now recovering from the 45-minute operation at his St.George's residence. "It was never a problem walking on it but whenever I tried to accelerate or turn sharply it would lock. The torn cartilage was preventing more freedom in the knee."

Smith underwent surgery on the same knee earlier this year, however, the injury flared up again during Barbados' tour of the Island in September.

"I injured the knee during the first game that I played against them.

"When I went to turn on one of my runs I felt it for the first time and instead of me going off the pitch and icing it like I should have, I continued on batting and it progressively got worse. I thought I could just run it out but it only got worse as I went on," he said.

Smith will now undergo a rehabilitation process to strengthen the knee.

"For the next six weeks I will be doing a lot of rehab and some strengthening work," he said. "But I will still be going to training (for the national team) and showing my face and doing some theory work with Mr. Harper (national coach) as usual.

"I won't miss a session but as far as my participation, it will affect me. But I will still be there to motivate the players and encourage them to the best of my ability."

The national team skipper insists the injury won't hinder his ability to play later down the road.

"Hopefully in the next six to eight weeks I will be back to full strength. What's happened in the past is I've always played two sports and have always rushed back after an injury," he said.

"But with me not playing football this year it's given me more opportunity to rest my knee properly, the way it should be. And I don't foresee me encountering any problems with it in the future."