Houghton loses Derbyshire role

Dave Houghton has become the first casualty of Derbyshire's cost-cutting drive after being told he will not be retained as a batting consultant for the 2014 season.

Houghton, the former Zimbabwe captain and the county's former director of cricket, has been working with Derbyshire's batsmen for the last two years but the club are needing to trim their budget after spending a significant sum on trying to stay in Division One of the Championship then finding themselves relegated.

Last week's budget reviews confirmed that there would not be the finances available from a specialist coaching fund to continue with Houghton's role.

"It's a sad occasion for me to be leaving Derbyshire again and what really disappoints me is that the club set out a development programme when I came back that I thought I was going to be a part of and I'm not going to be able to see it through," Houghton told the Derby Telegraph. "I don't make the decisions. It's for other people to judge whether they think it is right or wrong but I certainly don't hold any grudges towards Derbyshire."

Head coach Karl Krikken said: "I would personally like to thank David for his magnificent service to the club over the past three seasons and we all wish him well in his future endeavours.

"We have been extremely lucky to have someone with David's experience during this time, and everyone who has worked with him will have benefitted positively from it."

Last season Derbyshire's batting was carried by captain Wayne Madsen who made 1221 runs at 43.60 in the Championship with the next best being Shivnarine Chanderpaul's 884 at 38.43. The crop of young batsmen failed to score consistently; Chesney Hughes hit an unbeaten 270 but made just 342 runs in his other 19 innings. Outside of Madsen, Chanderpaul and Hughes there was not a century from the other batsmen.