WORCESTERSHIRE assistant coach Matt Mason has revealed the "kick" he and director of cricket Steve Rhodes get from helping young players develop and flourish at New Road.

Mason has been at the helm for the past two months while Rhodes has been on England Lions duty as part of the coaching set-up under Andy Flower in the UAE.

The former New Road paceman says even little steps forward in training from the crop of budding talent assembled by Rhodes is rewarding.

Mason, who is also the County's bowling coach, said: "Have I enjoyed the last two months? If anything it is made me think about how important my role is in helping develop players.

"When you are not the one making all the final decisions, it's knowing how far can you go, how much influence can you really have.

"You realise when you are making some of the decisions at the coal face, it is quite an influential position and very important position, that you do have a big part to play in the development of these young guys.

"That is quite a responsibility and I really, really enjoy that and you also take it personally when you see the successes.

"Even small successes in training, you feel quite proud that you've had a part of that and seeing people grow all the time and improving is quite rewarding."

Mason, who began learning the ropes as a coach before hanging up his spikes in 2011, added: "I guess coaching is difficult because in its simplest form, when the team do well, it's all down to the players.

"But when they are not doing very well it's 'where are the coaches, what are they doing!'

"It can be a bit like that but you don't move into coaching to get all the accolades.

"You move into coaching to help people develop and see them improve. When we do that, Bump (Rhodes) and I both get a good kick out of that."