Christian takes on Notts T20 captaincy

Dan Christian, the Australian allrounder, has taken over as Nottinghamshire's captain for the NatWest T20 Blast after James Taylor decided to stand down due to his England commitments.

Chris Read, the club captain who leads the side in the County Championship, will take charge for the Royal London Cup.

Taylor has played in England's last five Tests following his recall against Pakistan, in Sharjah, and has been a regular around the one-day set-up for more than a year although did not make the final XI in the recent series against Pakistan.

His likely role with England during the home summer against Sri Lanka and Pakistan means that chances for county appearances will be limited so he has relinquished the position he has held for two seasons.

"Having recently got back into the Test side, and being around England's team full time in 50-over cricket, it's right that James focuses on his own game this year," Mick Newell, the Nottinghamshire director of cricket and England selector, said.

"Clashes between our one-day fixtures and the international schedule make it unlikely that he'll be able to play a major part in our season, so it would be difficult for him to captain on the occasions when he does feature for us.

"Since taking on the captaincy in 2014, James has shown himself to be a tactically sound captain, and one that has responded to the extra responsibility with a better level of performance with the bat.

"In future seasons, if the schedule is more kind to us, I can certainly envisage him slotting back into the role."

Christian's role with Nottinghamshire for the 2016 season has recently been expanded to include the Royal London Cup, but while Read will lead in that competition Newell hopes Christian's T20 expertise will play a key role in the Blast.

"Dan brings a great deal of knowledge of how to be successful in T20 cricket, having played it all over the world for a number of years," he said. "He has leadership experience and it will be good to have a T20 captain who can very much focus on that form of the game. "He's going to be a key player for us in both white ball formats and we know he sets a very good example with the way he goes about his cricket."