Ex-pro Ben Smith will push Himley on

Smith has been appointed as director of cricket and club captain at the Birmingham & District League Division One outfit.

The 43-year-old has played for the Stourbridge Road club on and off for the past five years.

He's also a coach with Worcestershire and Leicestershire – the two clubs he played for during a successful 20-year professional career that saw him score over 18,000 first class runs.

Himley chairman Gordon Lewis said: "Ben starts work this month at our indoor net sessions and we are very pleased to have him on board.

"Ben coached at Worcestershire and was then appointed first team batting coach at Leicestershire.

"But there has been a reshuffle there and Ben became available. He will skipper the first team and coach the senior players and also be involved with the junior coaching set up at the club.

"He is a Level Four coach and has just come out of the professional game. As a club we couldn't have appointed a better person, you can't get any better than that.

"We are very fortunate to have someone of Ben's pedigree on board. Our aim is to make every cricketer at the club better and we feel Ben can help make that happen.

"He knows the club having played here after ending his professional career at Worcestershire and he is one of the best coaches around."

With Smith taking on the director of cricket role, club stalwart Tony Lea becomes chairman of cricket.

Himley had three skippers during last season as they finished fifth in Division One.

Greg Wright started the summer in charge before standing down, with Tom Kohler-Cadmore and former Indian Test batsman Wasim Jaffer sharing the leadership duties.

The club have also bolstered their first team by signing Chris Boroughs.

The experienced all-rounder is a proven league performer having played for Stourbridge, West Bromwich Dartmouth, Walsall and Brockhampton. He also captained Herefordshire at Minor Counties level.

Lewis said: "Chris decided to leave Brockhampton at the end of last season and we are delighted he has agreed to join us.

"He is a very experienced player and has been one of the top performers with bat and ball in the league for a number of years."