County haven’t ruled out Copeland extension

The Australian, who is contracted until the early part of June, has slotted into the County line-up with no problems and has already impressed Smith.

And with nobody in position to fill the overseas berth for the second half of the campaign, Smith says that the club are considering a number of possibilites, one of which is to ask the current incumbent if he fancies a second stint.

He said: “We’ve been very impressed with Trent as an individual and as a bowler and he will definitely be a good asset for us.

“It’s a possibility that he could return but we don’t know whether that would suit him.

“His partner is a professional sportswomen and I think that her season coincides with the end of the summer.

“But we’ve got an open mind regards getting somebody in for August and September and it will probably depend on how we’re doing.

“What we don’t want to do is run out of steam with four or five games to go.

“The option is there and the finance so we’ll see where we go with that.”

Copeland’s fellow countryman Cameron White is already on board for the Twenty20 and Smith believes that a second overseas for that competition is a real possibility with some external finance now in the pipeline.

He added: “We’ve got a benefactor in place and we’re looking to get a second.

“It’s always been the case that the finance has to come from outside the club as we can’t afford to blow all of our budget but I’m very confident that we’ll be able to get this sorted.

“It will then be down to Rips (head coach David Ripley) to see who is out there and available.”