LANCASHIRE last night hit back at allegations of dressing room disharmony and a lack of players' commitment to the Red Rose cause - but admitted Mike Atherton would no longer be vice-captain.

Nearly 250 members packed Old Trafford to vent their anger at the club's disastrous County Championship showing, when they finished fourth from bottom - their worst record in more than a decade.

But Lancashire chairman Bob Bennett blasted: "This committee runs this club, the members voted us in and we will continue to do the job our way - we will not shirk our responsibilities.

"We must be careful not to put a millstone round the players' necks over the championship, because they need our total support if they are to be successful.

"Dav Whatmore is a stepping stone to the success we all crave and the reports coming back from Sri Lanka are very encouraging."

Former acting head coach John Stanworth added: "This year the desire was not as great as it could have been, and you could see the different kind of body language between one-day games and the county championship. "But it's not a switch which we can easily turn on or off - Whatmore might know the answer and that's why he's coming here.

"But to say the players did not go out to win is wrong and to say that the team wanted games to finish early so they could have more time off annoys me - it is crazy.

"There was never dressing room disharmony. Some of the team were left very frustrated at the end of the season.

"There was discontentment about how the team was led, but it was never expressed in the dressing room.

"Mike Watkinson was hurt by all the rumour and innuendo over his role as captain and we hope he will stay on next year, because the help he gets from Whatmore will make things easier."

But Bennett admitted the workload and pressures were great enough to replace Mike Atherton as vice-captain for next year. "I spoke to Michael and suggested that with all the work he has to do for his benefit year, it might be an idea if he stepped down as vice-captain," said Bennett.

"He was very supportive of that, although no decision on who it might be has yet been made."

The committee also held its hand up over the signing of overseas player Steve Elworthy.

Stanworth said: "Maybe we shouldn't have signed an overseas player at all, because Elworthy was obviously not going to win us championship games. In hindsight it was a bad signing."

The club revealed that rising star Richard Green has been sent to Australia on a scholarship - and will act as official standby for the touring England A team over the winter.

"That's the kind of regard Richard Green is held in already," said Stanworth. "Unfortunately, Elworthy held him back this season and again that was my fault. Next year we will see the full potential of Richard."

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