Clay Smith would rather see Rodney Trott sign for rivals Bailey’s Bay than not play at all for the rest of the year.The St George’s coach has been battling Bay for the Social Club skipper’s signature ever since the team were forced to withdraw from the Premier Division last month.However, in an interview with The Royal Gazette at the weekend Trott indicated that he might sit out the remainder of the season, a statement that left Smith dismayed.“It’s crazy, he can’t be serious about this, somebody needs to address it and after reading the article I felt the need to say something,” said Smith.“I’ve known Rodney since summer camps, I’ve always admired him as a cricketer, as a person. It’s sad that he has been put in the position of having to make a choice.“I’ve gone on record as saying how much I admire him, how much I would like him to come to St George’s and how I consider him to be the missing piece of our puzzle. I know he could do a lot by being here.“But, I would rather he went to Bay than not play at all. Bermuda needs him to be playing, and it’s sad enough that he has missed the past two weeks because he has not been able to make his mind up.”While training with St George’s ahead of Cup Match, Trott has also been spotted at the Sea Breeze Oval, practising with his former Bay team-mates as they prepare for the first round of the Eastern Counties Cup on Saturday.It is the connection that he has with both clubs that is believed to have been causing Trott problems in making a decision, one that has to be made before the Bermuda Cricket Board’s transfer deadline runs out on Friday.“If the decision is that tough, and he is really torn and talking about not playing, I would rather lose him to another club, than him not play at all,” said Smith.“The league needs players like Rodney to be playing week in, week out, to help maintain the standard of the game on the Island.“I can be selfish and say ‘yes, I want him at St George’s, and I could give so many reasons as to why he should be here, but at the end of the day I just want to see him play.”Smith isn’t just speaking as coach of his club’s Premier Division side, but also from the position of a Cup Match selector who wants to see his best players getting as much time in the middle ahead of the Classic.“He’s just come off the back of a hundred at the first Cup Match trial, and you want players like Rodney to playing so they hit peak performance by the time the game comes around,” he said.“You would expect him to be involved in the game, and he has proven his worth so many times, that nine times out of ten you’d expect him to be selected. But it would be nice for the selectors to see him playing as well in the build-up to the game.”Trott will certainly play some cricket this month, as he flies out to Florida with the national squad on Sunday for the ICC Americas Division One tournament. But Smith also believes as a potential future Bermuda captain, Trott should be playing as much as possible.“From a Bermuda national team point as well, this is a player who could be the next captain,” said Smith. “He’s certainly a possibility to take over from David Hemp, and he needs to be playing cricket from that aspect as well.”