FORMER Radlett Cricket captain and club coach David Houghton was named as the new director of cricket at Derbyshire this week, bringing an end to the former Zimbabwe captain's two-year association with the Cobden Hill outfit.

Houghton, who had been expected to return home to Zimbabwe and take charge of the National A side, will start his term at Derbyshire next week, and his new role will also incorporate that of club coach after Adrian Pierson was sacked.

Houghton's first job will be to appoint a club captain and already there looks like there could be trouble in store for the former director of the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy; last year's skipper Dominic Cork has threatened to quit the club if he is not reinstated as captain.

In his two years at Cobden Hill, Houghton's coaching helped the side climb into the top half of the HCPL, as well as taste success in the Becker Cup and the Evening Standard Trophy.

It is understood the club are looking to build on the success of the past year by appointing another full-time coach to fill the vacancy left by Houghton.