Clay Smith has thrown his hat in the ring for the soon-to-be vacated Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) presidency.The former national team captain has announced his decision to run for the top post at the BCB’s Annual General Meeting next month and reckons he has the credentials to restore local cricket to its former prestige.Smith was initially urged to run by a number of supporters in the cricket fraternity and after careful consideration put his playing and coaching career on the back burner to focus solely on making the transition to what could prove to be one of the biggest challenges of his sporting career.“This is like the challenge of all challenges; to be able to come back and give something back to the sport from a different perspective,” the Whitney Institute teacher said. “I just see it as a challenge that is probably bigger than I have encountered before in my playing career.”Smith is more than convinced that he has what it takes to lead the BCB from the front.“Cricket is in my blood and I am one of those people who can get the job done just look at my track record as a player, captain and coach,” he said.“What the BCB presidency needs right now is someone who is going to be visual and somebody who is going to make a difference, and I feel that I have a lot to offer cricket and so I am going to give it a shot.”High on Smith’s agenda to reform the local game is “establishing a manner of professionalism throughout cricket from administrators right down to the players and clubs”.He has also vowed to raise the level of coaching (particularly at youth levels) and umpiring as well as providing security for umpires at matches and addressing the current poor state of pitches.“I have talked to people all over the world and the first thing they say is that you can’t improve the quality of cricket with poor pitches,” he said. “I think we need a head groundsman who monitors and checks on the preparation of our wickets.”Through his direct ties with English County clubs Surrey and Essex, Smith hopes to secure trials for local players and he also wants to see grassroots players exposed to more cricket.“In order for us to improve our cricket we have to have our youngsters playing a lot more cricket than what they are playing and also getting more cricket into the schools,” he said. “We have an elite coaching panel and now we need to find a way to get these guys into the schools and even offer assistance to the clubs.”If elected, Smith intends to surround himself only with those who have cricket at heart.“The key is basically surrounding yourself with people who have the passion and love for cricket and people who are not only going to talk the talk but walk the walk,” he said. “Cricket needs action right now and people that are going to actually do something.“It’s all about identifying what needs to be rectified and how to go about rectifying it. It’s all about everybody coming together and working together for the betterment of cricket basically, and people want to see action.”Smith will now go up against current BCB first vice-president Allen Richardson at next month’s AGM. Former BCB president Ed Bailey also hasn’t ruled out making a comeback.