Cleveland County have scheduled a ten-day tour of England this summer which could see them practice at Lord's - the home of cricket.

Player/coach Clay Smith yesterday confirmed the East Enders will tour the UK in August where he hopes his player's cricket horizons will be broadened in a professional setting.

"If all goes accordingly I am hoping we can arrange to get one training session at the indoor nets at Lord's," Smith said. "Lord's is the home of cricket and it's every player's dream to go there."

Cleveland are scheduled to play three matches on tour and also plan to work closely with a certified bowling coach.

"I am looking to secure the services of a certified bowling coach who can look at the likes of Dennis Musson, Barry Gibbons, Shaq Darrell and Tamauri Tucker just to name a few," Smith said.

The former Bermuda captain and his team will also attend one of the upcoming Tests between England and South Africa during their stay, which is partly geared towards preparations for their Eastern Counties match in late August.

"The basis of the tour is to help give my players international exposure while at the same time prepare them for the final county match, which is two -weeks after we return," Smith explained. "Being in England will allow the players to see a higher level of professionalism and they are looking forward to this tour and have worked extremely hard raising funds during the winter."

Smith is now entering his third year at Cleveland following a move from St.David's. In the time he's been on the job the star batsman has seen significant improvements - but has challenged his players to aim even higher.

"Overall the team has improved, they are more mentally tough and are learning to play more as a team now. There is far more harmony and unity in the team now," he noted.

"Our fielding hasn't improved the way I would have wanted and that is something I plan to focus on this year. Our aim is to finish in the top four (in the Premier Division) and we are looking at bringing in three or four quality players to strengthen the team.

"I feel the need to bring players in to challenge the players that are there now to motivate them even more. While the club's goal is to win Couny Cup, I would like to build a team that is strong enough to challenge for a league title because that is the ultimate prize of all.

"Everything we do revolves around team, therefore I ask my players to be open minded, flexible and be willing to bat or bowl anywhere in the team if it's going to benefit the team."

Meanwhile, another club looking to broaden their horizons this summer is Willow Cuts.

The Western Counties side are scheduled to tour Toronto in mid-July with team stalwart Dexter Basden keen to have his players - particularly the younger members of the squad - gain valuable experience up north.

"We want to give our guys as much exposure playing against quality opposition as possible," the former Somerset Cup Match skipper said."And I think this tour will go some way towards helping them in their personal development."

Willow Cuts have toured England, Bahamas, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Montserratt in the past two decades, with Basden now committed to "keeping the club's touring tradition alive".