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On a quest to collect their first piece of silverware in the upcoming domestic season, Midwest Rhinos have signed foreign based players Paul Franks and Gary Barren who were playing in England as well as Ian Nicholson and Solomon Mire from the Australian Premier League.

The four's addition to the Rhinos line-up are some of the efforts franchise CEO, Kenyon Ziehl is making to intensify preparations for the 2010/11 domestic season.

Newly appointed head coach Jason Gillespie insisted that one of the main areas in the oncoming season will be to vastly improve the team's performance.

"My focus is on the Rhinos and getting things in place, first and foremost we will be looking to enjoy our cricket and become an entertaining side to watch," said Gillespie.

After concluding the season at third place in all domestic competitions it is beyond the obvious that the team has the potential to get at least a trophy in the next season. The acquisition of the new players is part of Midwest Rhinos expedition to convert their performances to at least one title.

Franks is a right handed seamer and comes in to replace Mike Chinouya who left the Kwekwe based team to join the Southern Rocks while Barren formerly of Yorkshire and also a Zimbabwean citizen will be expected to strengthen the top order batting which was found wanting last season.

"Barren's experience will provide stability in the team's batting line-up and raise the quality of opening partnerships in the batting line-up, I was not too happy that we could not win any titles and we are not taking any chances this time around," said Ziehl.

The Rhinos batting line-up also includes Zimbabwe national players such as Vusimuzi Sibanda, Brendan Taylor, while Malcolm Waller and Rikki Wessels were some of the best batsmen in the league last season.

Nicholson is another fast bowler who has been playing in the Australian premier League for the past three years and is expected to bring the cutting edge in an already potent bowling attack comprising of Edward Rainsford and Graeme Cremer. Meanwhile Solomon Mire, an all rounder will be making his return to local cricket after leaving for Australia to further his game.