WORCESTERSHIRE director of cricket Steve Rhodes says he would rather give his young guns a run in the side next season than sign mediocrity.

The New Road chief is trying to fill the gaps left by the departures of opener Stephen Moore, wicketkeeper Steve Davies and spinner Gareth Batty.

But Rhodes says the likes of Alexei Kervezee and Dave Wheel-don could be given more of an opportunity if he can’t find the type of players he wants.

“There isn’t a great deal of quality out there,” Rhodes said. “I don’t want to be signing mediocrity. If I can only get players who aren’t going to light up the averages then I’d much rather play someone like Dave or young Alexei.

“These guys could have big futures so it would be much better for us to play them rather than bring in someone who isn’t going to add much to the side.”

The director of cricket, who re-turned from holiday late last week, echoed his chief executive Mark Newton’s comments about renewing the club’s interest in former England Ashes hero Matthew Hog-gard.

The experienced swing bowler was surprisingly released by York-shire and had been subject to a 28-day notice of approach from Wor-cestershire, but the County chose not to follow it up.

“An ex-England player is just too expensive,” Rhodes said.

“I already have my experienced bowlers for next season in Matt Mason, Kabir Ali and Alan Rich-ardson.

“I have to make sure that we have the right balance, because we do have a lot of talented youngsters.”

The main priority for Rhodes this winter is finding a wicketkeeper. With Davies now at Surrey, the New Road boss only has 17-year-old Ben Cox on the books.

He showed he has got potential by making an impressive first-class debut at Somerset last month, but is still a student at Bromsgrove School and will not be available for the start of the season.

Rhodes also has to decide on who will open the batting with new vice-captain Daryl Mitchell following Moore’s departure to Lancashire.

“It is too early to say who will be opening the batting next season,” Rhodes said. “Stephen Moore, by his own standards, had a disappointing year last term — he is a much better than what we saw.

“But Kervezee and Wheeldon are both wonderful little batsmen — they are a coach’s dream.

“They are both determined guys. Dave has come through our academy and Alexei has been with us since he was 17.

“They both had opportunities in the first team in the season just gone and they will get even more next year.”