THE captain of Herefordshire County Cricket Club feels departing coach Harshad Patel was 'hard done by'.

As reported by the Hereford Times last week, Steve Williams will now coach the first team, with Steve Watkins looking after Second XI affairs.

Herefordshire CCC's committee believe 'it is imperative that a logical pathway continues right the way thought he county's age-group sides and into the first and second teams' and feel Williams and Watkins are the men to take the club forward.

However, Matt Pardoe – who will continue as First XI captain – believes Patel could stayed on especially after leading the side to Unicorns Minor Counties Knock-out Trophy success last year.

“It is something the board has decided, but all of the players including myself felt Harshad did a brilliant job and feel he has been hard done by and shouldn't have been pushed out,” said Pardoe.

“I feel for Harshad that he is no longer the coach because he always had the best of interests for the county.

“I think he could have worked alongside Steve, but the decision has been made and we’ll have to see what happens.”

Pardoe also believes that local players should only play for the first team if they are good enough and not because they are from Herefordshire.

“The aim of the club is to play local players, that has always been the case, but I am keen that they don’t play just for the sake of it and they have to earn the right to play,” said Pardoe.

“If not, then they will need to carry on working hard.

“There has been a bit more of a drop-off of players as they get older and that is something we need to address because we want to keep more people interested in cricket in the county.

“That is the biggest thing we have to do, but there are some good players around.”

Herefordshire start their Knock-out Trophy campaign against Wales on April 23, while their opening three-day Championship campaign will be home to Cheshire in June.

“The squad we had last year was brilliant and I hope we re-create the same sort of success this year,” added Pardoe.

“We will try and put out as strong a squad as we can for the one day games and the three-day ones will be dependent on players’ availability.”

Steve Watkins, meanwhile, believes it is imperative that local players learn how to play the three-day game if they are to break into the team.

“From the first team perspective, there won’t be that much of a change, but we will be looking a little bit more at local players and trying to get some young boys in,” said Watkins.

“We have still got Matt Pardoe as captain, which we’re delighted about, but there will be more opportunities for local players to learn the longer format of the game. There won’t be a full Herefordshire XI and we’re working closely with Gloucestershire and Worcestershire and their academy players.

“Josh Tongue, for example, is a Bromyard lad but is on the staff at Worcestershire.

“There are also a couple of lads at Malvern College and Bromsgrove. There are some good players who go to good schools, which will make them better players.

“It won’t happen overnight, but I believe it’s all very positive at the moment."