HAMPSHIRE’S director of cricket, Giles White, has been encouraged by the quality of applicants for the county’s first-team coach vacancy.

White is now overseeing Hampshire Cricket from the academy to the first team, a similar role to that which Les Reed, Saints’ head of football development, fulfils at St Mary’s.

He will be interviewing candidates next week following a strong response to the club’s advert for someone who has had “success as a cricket coach at first-class or international level.”

White, who replaced Paul Terry as Hampshire’s first-team manager in 2008, explained: “I’ve taken on more responsibility as time has gone on and we’ve been understaffed for the last few years.

“This is something we’ve looked to do for a while. “Other clubs have a director of cricket with a first-team coach who is more hands-on and I’ll now be able to focus on specific areas rather than be stretched across two jobs.

“I’ll still play an active role with the first team but it’s tough to work through players’ contracts and be in the nets with them at the same time.

“This will free me up to see the second team, get to academy games and see what’s coming through the system, which will help with our succession planning.”

The shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday, with specialist bowling coach Craig White likely to take on the management of the Second XI.

“Our main focus is to find the person who fits with the team and coaching set-up and when we find the right person we’ll clarify everyone’s roles,” continued White.

“We’ll take as long as we need but I feel we have a strong enough field of applicants.” The successful candidate will also work alongside Jimmy Adams following confirmation that he will continue as Hampshire’s captain for a third season.

“Jimmy’s the right man for the job, losing the [YB40] semi-final was a tough period for the team but we’re heading in the right direction and next season will be an exciting one,” added White, who hopes to sign an overseas seam bowler in the new year, having already added Will Smith and Matt Coles to his squad.

“Signing an overseas bowler is not straightforward for a number of reasons,” he continued. “Firstly, national associations don’t release seam bowlers without knowing their workload and then there’s the IPL.

“But we have three players of different nationalities on our radar.”