STEVE Rhodes has called on his young crop of bowlers to look up to veteran seamer Alan Richardson in a bid to nail down first-team places.

Evergreen Richardson and overseas batsman Phil Hughes were the only players to emerge from a disastrous campaign with any credit and Rhodes will hold Richardson up as an example of what’s required to be a successful Division One bowler.

The director of cricket said: “We need guys like Richard Jones, who sadly went into the second team this season, to really step up to the mark and make sure he is the driving force behind us taking wickets next year.

“When you sit back away from the emotions and analyse things, you know you were on the right tracks and eventually it will bare some fruit. It is not a two-minute job and we hope the likes of Richard, Chris Russell, Nick Harrison and Jack Shantry can soon come up to the standard of the likes of Alan.”

Rhodes added: “With the bat, we have Moeen Ali, Daryl Mitchell and Alexei Kervezee, who will also have to step up to the mark now — they’re the three most senior guys and they have to take over the mantle of scoring consistent runs.

“Myself, Matt Mason and Damien D’Oliveira, as the main lynchpins of the coaching team, have certainly put in a hell of a lot of work and there have been plenty of challenging sessions for the players.

“It is probably still too early to see that hard work bear fruit, which will be frustrating for our supporters and us as coaches, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and I definitely feel that carrying on these sort of sessions can be successful down the line.”