Billy Godleman has been appointed captain of Derbyshire's County Championship side after Wayne Madsen stepped down.

Madsen had led Derbyshire in red ball cricket for four seasons, a spell that included winning promotion to Division One. While Derbyshire were relegated the following year, Madsen was named as Championship player of the year for his defiant batting.

Godleman, 27, enjoyed a good season with the bat in 2015. In the course of passing 1,000 Championship runs in a season for the first time, he made centuries in three successive innings and impressed as stand-in captain in three games when Madsen suffered a broken finger.

Godleman, who has also had spells at Middlesex and Essex, recently signed a new deal to keep him at Derbyshire until the end of 2017. Only William Storer, Levi Wright, Peter Kirsten and Kim Barnett had previously scored three centuries in succession for the club.

32-year-old Madsen recently signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until the end of 2019.

"He's been a great captain and he's still got ambitions to play for England," Graeme Welch, the club's Elite Performance Director told the Derby Telegraph. "I still believe he is one of the best players in the country and I think he is good enough to play for England.

"He is still a great ambassador for this club and still one of our main men but he just wants to move back into the ranks and help the younger lads that way. He just sees himself in a bit of a different role at this time."

Wes Durston will continue to lead Derbyshire in the NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup.

Derbyshire have also agreed a two-year contract extension with Welch, which secures his future until the end of the 2018 season.

"Graeme has played a key part in the club's progression over the past two-and-a-half years and his contract extension will ensure stability for everyone involved," Chris Grant, the club's chairman, said.

"If we are to continue to be sustainable as a county, we need to be producing our own players and Graeme's role in this has been clear to see. Our goal is for success on the field while developing England players and Graeme has already shown his ability to achieve this with England recognition for Mark Footitt, Tom Taylor and Matt Critchley."

The club have also announced that Kim Barnett, who set a host of records for Derbyshire during his playing career, is to be their new their president for the next two years.