CRICKET WORLD

New Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale is hoping to stake his claim for an England place this season with a little help from an old hand.

At 26, Gale is the youngest Yorkshire skipper for more than 75 years, while he also led England Lions in the United Arab Emirates this winter.

Now the batsman is looking to make the next step in his international career while taking on the added responsibility of county captaincy following Anthony McGrath's resignation.

But he will not have to look far for expert advice, with former England captain and Yorkshire stalwart Michael Vaughan taking on a mentoring role.

Gale said: "Michael is someone I've admired as a player and captain, especially being a Yorkshireman as well, so I've spoken to Michael throughout the winter and it seemed to fit that he'd come on board and help me in a mentoring role.

"Michael's record speaks for itself and to call on someone like that to be on the end of the phone or just to sit down for a coffee at stages during the season will be really helpful."

He continued: "For me to get in the England side, I know what I've got to do. I've got to come back to Yorkshire, score my runs and keep knocking on the door."

Gale will captain Yorkshire for the first time in a competitive match when they open their LV= County Championship campaign against Warwickshire next week, and he feels his England Lions experience will stand him in good stead.

"It's a massive honour, especially next week leading the side out at Warwickshire for the first Championship game," he said.

"Since I was 10 years old, when I first played for Yorkshire, I always dreamed of leading the side out and it will be a very proud moment for me.

"Leading the England Lions side did give me some good experience for the Yorkshire job. It's a job I enjoyed doing and we were quite successful out there, winning the Twenty20 series against Pakistan A and also beating the England side."

Yorkshire director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon is in no doubt he has the right man for the job.

"Andrew's batting has improved year on year and he's grown in stature as a player," said Moxon.

"It will be a challenge for him taking over the captaincy here but one that's he's looking forward to and I think will thrive on.

"Reports when he captained the Lions were good so he made a favourable impression on them out there and he's made a good start with us as well so I'm sure he'll go from strength to strength."

Gale is not the only Yorkshire player to have caught the eye of the England selectors in recent months, with Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad both making the full squad for the tour to Bangladesh.

Bresnan turned out to be one of the stars of the series and Gale has been impressed by the bowler's progress.

He added: "I've been really pleased with the way Tim has gone about his business. Since he came back at Christmas from the South Africa tour he worked on his fitness, worked hard on reverse swing and he seems to be really reaping the rewards of that."