Worcestershire president John Elliott has praised the qualities of Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes who this summer completes 10 years in the role.
And Elliott is "surprised" that former England wicket-keeper Rhodes has not been considered for some kind of international recognition – such as leading a winter Lions tour.
He was county chairman when Rhodes was appointed as successor to Tom Moody mid-way through the 2005 campaign after the Australian left to take charge of Sri Lanka.
Elliott, who is standing down at this month's AGM and will be replaced by Lord Mervyn King as president, said: "I was involved as chairman when we appointed our first Director of Cricket in Tom Moody.
"Tom went onto Sri Lanka and we promoted within, which we always do at Worcestershire, and Steve Rhodes in my view is an outstanding Director of Cricket.
"He works hard, he has got the backing of the lads, he has got great team spirit going and we've got a wonderful bunch of players coming through and that is also testament to Damian D'Oliveira.
"You can say that is Damian's legacy but but Steve Rhodes to me is a top class Cricket Director.
"He's come through some difficult times, with the terrible floods of the 2007 season and subsequently the cricket budget being cut. He has proved he is a very good Cricket Director."
Former Worcestershire wicket-keeper Elliott added: "I am surprised that Steve never gets a mention when matters such as who should take England Lions teams abroad come up.
"Steve has been in the game from a young lad, came from Yorkshire to Worcestershire, played all his cricket at Worcestershire for 20 years, Cricket Director for 10 years with a brilliant work ethic.
"He's got such a legacy. I'm surprised he doesn't get mentioned in any of those fields in terms of managing an England side, youngsters going abroad."
