Alan Richardson has spoken of his pride at being appointed Worcestershire’s new Head Coach as he strives to bring further success to the County with the “exciting” core of young talent at New Road.
The former Worcestershire pace bowler says it is also “hugely important” to forge a bond with members and supporters, and is looking forward to working with Club Captain, Brett D’Oliveira.
He said: “I am incredibly proud to have been given this role and very thankful for the club for giving me this opportunity. Just excited to get going really and working with Kadeer,
“I’ve known him a long time, played against him for many years, and I feel that we work well together.
“I really love watching him work, how excited he gets about coaching, how excited he gets about developing players, and how competitive he is.
“I think we’ve got a real good group of players. They are getting more experienced. A nice core of those players are developing nicely and continually improving.
“I think we have to look at these things as a really exciting opportunity.
“We have some young, exciting players who are getting better and better. We’ve seen Jack Haynes and Dillon Pennington have really good years.
“Hopefully, that will continue, and their performances will continue to improve.
“Likewise, as a team, the boys are working really well together; they look after each other, play as a team really well and just keep on improving.”
Richardson added: “It was nice to have a little taste of things with the Royal London Cup.
“It is not something that has been on my radar, particularly before being Head Coach. I’ve been coaching now for nine years, but mainly as that specialist coach and Assistant Coach.
“It has just given me a real insight in what it looks like to lead the side and lead the club really. A really nice taster to start off with.
“I’ve other experience with Warwickshire and times when I got a call-up by with England. Throughout my career, you’ve always taken quite a bit from the leaders who have been around you, whether it be captains or coaches.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play cricket for a long time, so experienced many coaches, some I really respected and enjoyed working with.
“Hopefully, just try and take little bits and pieces from the people I’ve worked with a player and as a coach and the experiences I’ve gained myself.
“Ultimately, you want to be your own man? I think so. I’ve got to be as authentic as possible. For me, I’ve got to be genuine with the players.
“I hope they know what they are going to get with me. I owe it to them to make sure I am as authentic as possible with them.”
On the bond with members and supporters, Richardson said: “It is hugely important. I think we should always look at the club. First and foremost, it’s a cricket club, but it’s a huge part of the community and the county itself.
“For those guys who come and watch us and support us, and I always thought as a player the members were fantastic, their support is always genuinely appreciated by the players and support staff.
“We have to make sure they know that is appreciated as well, and their support for the boys when they are on the field is hugely rewarding for the guys when we win some games and hopefully go a long way in some competitions.”
D’Oliveira quickly slotted into his new role as Club Captain and combined it with impressive performances with the bat.
Richardson said: “Really looking forward to working with Brett. I was impressed with how he went about things last year.
“He’d had some experience on and off in previous years, and for him to get the role full-time, and to watch him lead the way he did with the boys, the responses he got from the players, the way he conducted himself throughout the season, was fantastic.
“He leads in his own way, without even realising it at times. He made a real conscious effort to continue that, and he just got better and better. I’ve no doubt he will continue that improvement.”
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