Exclusive: Gale is a future England leader, says Boycott

Boycott insists the Yorkshire captain has all the right attributes to succeed in the role.

Gale has led Yorkshire to the top of the County Championship in his first season at the Headingley helm.

And Boycott – a member of the Yorkshire board who appointed the 26-year-old last December – insists Gale can ultimately lead his country.

"I definitely think Andrew has a chance of captaining England in the future," said Boycott. "I think he is a dark horse and could do a good job.

"Obviously, he's still learning the game and still learning about captaincy, but there's no reason why he couldn't do the role further down the line.

"Andrew has the ability to play Test cricket in my opinion and, in the long run, to captain the side."

Boycott, who led England in four Tests, believes the selectors have also earmarked Gale as a potential leader.

Gale captained England Lions on their tour of the United Arab Emirates last winter before he had even captained a Yorkshire match.

"It's not just me who thinks Andrew has the ability to lead his country," said Boycott. "The selectors must think so, too, otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen him to captain the A team.

"If anyone had any doubts about Andrew, or the decision we took at Yorkshire to make him our captain, just consider that Geoff Miller and his England selectors then made him captain of England A.

"That tells you everything you need to know."

Boycott, who played 108 Tests, scoring 8,114 runs at 47.72, believes Gale possesses a number of attributes.

The powerful left-hander is arguably the most improved batsman in county cricket this year, with the captaincy having seemingly raised his game.

Gale, who has yet to lose a Championship match as captain going into today's fixture against Essex at Chelmsford, is one of three Yorkshire batsmen averaging over 50 in the competition.

He has scored 456 runs in seven games at 50.66, including two hundreds and two half-centuries, with Adam Lyth and Jacques Rudolph the other men averaging 50-plus.

"Andrew has got good basic technique as a batsman," said Boycott. "There may be other people around who are more talented than him, but cricket is also about character and he's got an abundance of that.

"He has a steely determination and a very bright mind. These things are very important for any young player.

"It's not always about having wonderful ability because how often do we say about someone 'oh, he's got a wonderful gift, but if only?'

"Andrew Gale will get the most out of himself and the players around him, and that's the important thing.

"When I was a player, I was always a great admirer of people like David Steele and Peter Willey because they made the most of their talent.

"They weren't blessed with as much talent as Ian Botham and David Gower, for example, but when you were in a difficult situation and in the trenches, so to speak, you knew they were the sort of people you wanted behind you.

"Andrew is very much like that in my opinion and has got the character and determination to go a long way."

Boycott has been encouraged by Yorkshire's performances so far this season.

A young side have surpassed expectations in the Championship and made positive progress under Gale and director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon.

Yorkshire are also top of Group B of the Clydesdale Bank 40 with four wins from four games.

The only blot on their copybook came in the Twenty20 Cup, where Yorkshire finished sixth out of nine in the North Division and failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

"The board made a conscious policy to move forward with players who have grown up in Yorkshire or who have come up through the Academy, and so far it's worked well," added Boycott.

"We feel we have some very talented cricketers and the only way they're going to get better and improve is by playing in the first team.

"These lads are not going to get better sitting on their bums in the dressing room or playing in the second team; you can't play in the second team forever.

"We know that for a couple of years they will have good weeks, good fortnights and then they'll have difficult weeks, difficult fortnights.

"That's all part of the learning process that you have with young players. But we feel we're on the right lines and are starting to make progress.

"There's a long way to go, but we're on the right road."