Yorkshire CCC award captaincy roles to Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan

Both have significant experience on the international stage in all forms of the game and will be spending more time playing the county game this season than in recent years.

Malan, who retired from international cricket last August, signed a new two-year deal just before the turn of the year and was determined to play a bigger role with the club he first joined in 2020 after 13 years at Middlesex.

The 37-year-old was captain for the last four years of his time at Lord’s and is excited about the prospect of leading a team out once again.

“It feels great,” Malan. “It’s a massive honour and I’m really proud to be appointed captain of any team at Yorkshire.

“When Anthony McGrath sat down and spoke to me and told me his plans moving forward, he told me Shan Massood wasn’t coming back this year - and he had been fantastic as captain last year - and I said well if that’s the case then I think the time is right for me in T20 cricket.

“I said that if you think I’m the right man, I’d love to be able to help Yorkshire and be able to give my knowledge to the boys.

“He said he’d go and speak to some of the lads around the team and the feedback from the boys that he spoke to was that I’m the person to be captain.

“So that’s great for myself that the guys that he spoke to around the team were very complimentary about me.”

Bairstow, of course, follows in the footsteps of his late father David, who captained Yorkshire from 1984-86.

The Bradford-born wicketkeeper - who on Wednesday refused to rule himself out of a return to the international stage with England in one or more formats, said he was looking forward to leading a “gifted” Yorkshire team on its return to Division One of the County Championship, one that will include England team-mate Malan for the six of the first seven games, starting at Hampshire on Friday, April 4.

“The county is embedded in my heart,” said Bairstow. “I take immense pride in representing the club on the field.

“To now be able to do that as captain, in what will be an exciting season, is a real honour.

“We have a gifted group at Yorkshire who are young and hungry for success. Our domestic and overseas recruits are of a really high calibre, and it is now time for us to establish ourselves back in the top division.

“I’m as excited for the year ahead as I’ve ever been and can't wait to get going.”

Malan is confident Bairstow can work himself back into England contention by leading Yorkshire to success in their first year back in the top division since 2022.

“Look, Jonny is a great player, he’s been fantastic and he’s been through a pretty tough time in the last little bit with his England stuff” added Malan.

“And I think it’s a great challenge for him to have his eye on something bigger than where he wants to be and where he can be.

“And I think he’ll get there (England) by focussing on the captaincy and it will bring the best out of him because he always stands up to challenges and finds ways to get there and hopefully he can find the best out of himself as a captain.”

Both fill the position vacated by Shan Masood, who captained the White Rose across all formats and saw his time with the club officially brought to an end last week after two years when it was announced he had signed for Leicestershire.

Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, was keen to acknowledge the positve influence had by Masood during his time at the club.

“Shan played an integral role, both with his batting and his captaincy, in getting the club promoted to Division One and led from the front with distinction,” said Hamilton.

"He was as liked and respected off the pitch as much as he was on it. Everyone at Yorkshire would like to wish him well for the future.”

On the appointment of his captaincy successors, Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath said: “Jonny and Dawid are two of our most senior players and both bring unrivalled international experience to the team.

“The leadership qualities that they both have will undoubtedly stand us in good stead ahead of both competitions. To have word-class players in the team, let alone, having both as captains, will mean our younger lads will learn a lot this year playing alongside them.”