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Audio: Gale blows in for Yorkshire
ANDREW GALE is relishing the challenge of the Yorkshire captaincy after being appointed the club's youngest leader since 1933.
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Gale is the youngest to hold the job since the legendary Brian Sellers, who also took charge at the age of 26.
Gale's appointment in succession to Anthony McGrath was officially announced during a press conference at Headingley yesterday.
The Dewsbury-born batsman is the joint-fourth youngest captain in the club's 146-year history alongside Sellers and Geoffrey Wilson, with only Lord Hawke (22), Alan Barber (24) and Frank Greenwood (25) younger at the start of their first seasons in command.
Should Gale prove anywhere near as successful as Lord Hawke or Sellers, Yorkshire will be taking delivery of a new trophy cabinet.
Lord Hawke presided over eight County Championship titles during his 28 seasons at the helm, while Sellers won six Championships in nine summers during a tenure that straddled the Second World War.
Gale will hardly have the same resources to work with as that illustrious duo Lord Hawke could call on such as George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes, while Sellers possessed the likes of Hedley Verity and Bill Bowes.
But Yorkshire are confident Gale can galvanise a young and developing squad, while the man himself insists he is fully prepared for the challenge.
"I don't think age is an issue and I feel I've got the experience and character to do the job," said Gale, who has also penned a new three-year contract with the club.
"People say you've got to have experience and that you can't put an old head on young shoulders, but we've got a young and developing side and I believe this is the right time to appoint a younger captain to take the team forward. I've grown up with a lot of the lads and I know their characters inside out; I know how to get the best out of them on-and-off the pitch.
"Three years ago I led a lot of them in the second team and I've been playing with the likes of Tim Bresnan, Joe Sayers and Richard Pyrah since I was 11 or 12 years old.
"We'll go out there with nothing to lose and, although I'm not going to make empty promises about winning this trophy or that trophy, what I will say is that with the hard work and determination we've got, I honestly believe we can compete with the likes of Durham and Nottinghamshire on a consistent basis."
Gale led the England Performance Programme on their recent tour of South Africa and is promising a positive style of captaincy.
"I want to be aggressive and I think I'll be the sort of captain who won't be left wondering," he said.
"With the new points system in the Championship, if you win one game it's worth about five draws in terms of points, so the incentive is clear.
"I'll probably lose a few games trying to win them but, hopefully, we'll win a lot more games than we lose."
Gale, who hopes the captaincy will spur him on to greater heights with the bat, said his appointment was the realisation of a childhood dream.
"Since I first pulled on the Yorkshire shirt at 10 years old with the Yorkshire Under-11s, I've dreamt of becoming Yorkshire captain," he said. "Now my dream's come true and I'm not going to take it lightly I'm going to give my all to the task."
Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's director of professional cricket, said the club considered other candidates but insisted Gale was the best choice.
"We did look at other candidates but it's our belief Andrew has all the right attributes," he said. "He plays all forms of the game and his character and style of leadership are exactly what we need.
"Whenever you pick a new captain there's always an element of risk because you never know how it will affect personal performance, but I think Andrew is someone who'll thrive on responsibility and become a better player for it.
Jacques Rudolph will remain vice-captain, despite the South African having previously stated his own captaincy ambitions.
"We're not sure what 2011 will bring with the work permit regulations and what we're really looking for is consistency and stability in terms of the captaincy," said Moxon.
Headingley captains
Name; Length of service; Age
R Iddison 1863-72 28
J Rowbotham 1873 41
L Greenwood 1874 39
J Rowbotham 1875 43
E Lockwood 1876-77 31
T Emmett 1878-82 36
Lord Hawke 1883-1910 22
EJRH Radcliffe 1911 27
Sir AW White 1912-18 34
DCF Burton 1919-21 31
G Wilson 1922-24 26
AW Lupton 1925-27 46
WA Worsley 1928-29 38
AT Barber 1930 24
FE Greenwood 1931-32 25
AB Sellers 1933-47 26
NWD Yardley 1948-55 33
WHH Sutcliffe 1956-57 29
JR Burnet 1958-59 39
JV Wilson 1960-62 39
DB Close 1963-70 32
G Boycott 1971-78 30
JH Hampshire 1979-80 38
CM Old 1981-82 32
R Illingworth 1982-83 49
DL Bairstow 1984-86 32
P Carrick 1987-89 34
MD Moxon 1990-95 29
D Byas 1996-2001 32
DS Lehmann 2002 32
A McGrath 2003 27
C White 2004-06 34
D Gough 2007-08 36
A McGrath 2009 33
AW Gale 2010- 26
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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