Regan promises daring new Yorkshire

The pressure of trying to keep Yorkshire in the championship top flight eventually took its toll on Anthony McGrath's form

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Another captain of Yorkshire may have fallen on his sword, but it is surely a sign of progress in the Broad Acres that the transition of power was totally amicable.

Last month Anthony McGrath handed over the reins to Andrew Gale, who at 26, is set to become the youngest man to captain Yorkshire since 1933.

Even the most diehard follower of the White Rose would acknowledge that the thorny issue of succession has sometimes left Headingley resembling a banana republic.

But in appointing one of their promising batsmen, England's most decorated county have opted for a long-term solution to lead them out of an era beset by underachievement.

“There was never any question of Anthony not pledging himself to the club," Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan told ecb.co.uk.

“I think when discussing this there's a tendency to go back into three or four years of history. In recent times we had Darren Gough, who retired because of his age, and Anthony McGrath.

“(This change) is not a big deal as far as the club are concerned. Turnover is a positive thing, if it’s channelled into results.

“Anthony was enormously courageous to make this decision to explain his feelings to (director of cricket) Martyn Moxon and admit that the captaincy hadn’t worked for him.

“He carries a lot of pressure as a batsman and a personality in the dressing room, and that had started to affect the team’s performance as well as his own.

“He could have just carried on until someone told him otherwise. But his brave decision has allowed the club to regroup and look at the future."

The ECB has taken steps to try and reduce the number of stalemates in this season’s LV= County Championship, upping the reward for a win to 16 points from 14, and reducing draws to a mere three.

That will surely lead to more contrived declarations and negotiation between captains; something which failed to materialise in the championship match at Trent Bridge in September when McGrath and Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read could not agree on a last-innings target.

Andrew Gale is set to go head-to-head with Roses rivals Lancashire on a number of occasions, starting in Barbados

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Regan promises that Gale, who called an early declaration while skippering the England Performance Programme in Pretoria before Christmas, will bring “aggressive” qualities to bear.

Gale has since been named captain of the Lions team to tour the United Arab Emirates in February.

“Andrew spent a few weeks in South Africa getting his thoughts together for the new role in 2010,” Regan added. “He’s certainly not short of ideas.

“He’s got his own style. And I think you’ll see a very different type of captaincy from Andrew. He talked about aggression when he took over the captaincy, and I think he means ‘controlled aggression’.

“He’s not afraid to say what needs to be said; he’s not afraid to deal with conflict when it needs to be dealt with. But he can also cajole and put his arm around someone.”

Gale and Moxon will have the idyllic surroundings of the Caribbean to start putting the pieces together. Yorkshire are one of four counties to have accepted an invitation to spend their pre-season in Barbados.

Like Essex and Lancashire, Yorkshire have previously opted to use the Pro ARCH Trophy in the United Arab Emirates as a one-day warm-up tournament, but generous funding from the Barbados Tourism Authority, coupled with the opportunity to play three formats of the game, has lured them instead to the Windward Islands.

Helpfully, the matches planned for the Three Ws Oval will almost exactly mirror the new 2010 domestic structure, with Twenty20, 40-over and two-innings matches all on offer for the English counties.

That will include a special two or three-day match against Lancashire. Up to now, the Pro ARCH Trophy has been solely a 50-over competition.

Regan explained: “We’ve been made a very attractive offer by the Barbados tourist authorities, we’ve looked at and like the facilities.

The Three Ws Oval, revamped for the 2007 World Cup, will host the inaugural Barbados pre-season tournament in March

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“It’s very much a cricket-loving public out there in the West Indies. The weather should be good as well.

“We’ve got an opportunity to play all formats of the game, and give all of our squad the chance to play some good cricket before the season proper starts on April 9.”

The Barbados Cricket Cup is scheduled to take place from March 14-28. Lancashire, Essex and Derbyshire are also expected to take part.