Snape named Leicestershire captain

Jeremy Snape now has the challenge of trying to turn Leicestershire into a winning team © Getty Images

Jeremy Snape has been named the new captain of Leicestershire following the surprise decision of HD Ackerman to stand down. Snape, who played 10 one-day internationals for England, will form a new management team with Tim Boon, who has recently been appointed as coach.

Snape admitted to being surprised by his promotion, having featured primarily as a one-day specialist last season. "It's been a surreal few days for me in considering this new role," he said, "but I was very impressed with the ideas which Tim and chairman Neil Davidson put forward and it's a fantastic opportunity for me to be involved in shaping the club's future."

Snape has been preparing for his life after cricket by studying for a Masters degree in sports psychology over the last two years. He now hopes to put that knowledge to good effect with Boon.

"I was certainly very impressed with Tim's work as a coach when I was playing for England. He's been working with the most improved and successful team in world cricket in recent years and Tim's attention to detail and technical analysis means he will bring very high expectations to Leicestershire."

Ackerman, who joined Leicestershire under the Kolpak ruling in 2005, has said he wants to concentrate on his batting, despite scoring 1027 Championship runs last summer and topping the Twenty20 run chart.

"It's with great regret that I'm standing down from the captaincy, but I feel that freeing myself from the burden of responsibility in the coming season will enable me to make a bigger contribution with the bat."

However, apart from reaching the Twenty20 semi-finals, Leicestershire had a poor season. They finished second-bottom in Division Two of the Championship, were beaten in the second round of the C&G Trophy and narrowly missed out on promotion in the National League.

Now, Ackerman feels it is the right time, with a new coach on board, for the club to start afresh. "I strongly applaud Tim Boon's appointment and both he and the new captain will have my wholehearted support. My decision to step down means Tim can start with a clean sheet."