Andrew Gale is a stalwart Yorkshire left-handed batsman and highly-respected captain with a strong sense of White Rose traditions. One of a number of talented top-order players on the county circuit, he has been a player at the back of the minds of the England selectors despite the perception of some critics that he struggles with the short ball.

Gale, born in Dewsbury, started out in league cricket at Gomersal as an eight-year-old but it is the Bradford League club Cleckheaton he regards as his home club. He came through the age groups with England, playing at Under-15 through to Under-19 levels. He captained the Under-19 team, and was named in the England Performance Squad for their trip to South Africa in 2009-10. That December, he was named as Yorkshire captain, replacing Anthony McGrath, so becoming the youngest professional captain in the county's history.

Yorkshire adopted a policy of sticking as far as possible to home-grown talent and Gale's determined leadership had a youthful team pushing for Championship honours in 2010. In the end they fell short, finishing third - seven points behind Champions Nottinghamshire - but he finished the season with 876 runs at 46.10.

He was able to maintain his own personal standards in 2011, in spite of a struggle that ended with Yorkshire's relegation to Division Two. His season ended early because of a broken arm, but in the 12 matches before that he scored 769 runs at 40.47, including an unbeaten 145 in defeat against Nottinghamshire at Headingley and one other century.

Gale's 2012 season was disrupted by a hip injury but he struggled for runs even when fit and his return of 487 from 15 first-class matches was his lowest since he became a first-team regular in 2008, with an average of just over 30. Balanced against that was a significant triumph for his captaincy as Yorkshire won promotion to Division One in the LV= Championship and qualified for the Champions League as runners-up in the Friends Life T20, to which Gale's own contribution included a 53-ball 70 against Leicestershire at Headingley in June in a county record T20 opening stand of 116 with Phil Jaques.

Another near miss in the Championship came in 2013 when Gale's Yorkshire led for long periods only to be overhauled by Durham. He struck a career-best first-class score of 272 in a Championship draw against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough on the way to passing 1,000 runs in a season in that competition for the first time. It was his first Championship hundred for more than two years.

Gale is also the co-founder the Pro Cricket coaching academy, providing coaching across the Midlands and northern England, with Chris Taylor.

ESPNcricinfo - January 2014