Wakely handed full Northants captaincy

Alex Wakely will resume his career after injury as captain of Northamptonshire in all formats for 2015. He previously did the limited-overs role in 2013, leading the county to the Twenty20 title, but suffered a ruptured Achilles on the pre-season tour of the Caribbean and has missed the whole of this season.

Northamptonshire have had a miserable summer, relegated a distant last in Division One of the Championship and failing to make it out of the group stages of either the NatWest T20 Blast or Royal London Cup.

The club are now looking towards the future, built around players such as Ben Duckett, James Kettleborough and David Willey, the latter who has been named vice-captain, with Stephen Peters being moved aside from the four-day captaincy he took on 2013 - leading them to promotion in the Championship - when Wakely was given the white-ball role.

"I am completely honoured to have been asked to captain Northants Cricket," he said. "It is something I have wanted to do ever since I came to the club as a 13-year-old."

"I still have a lot I want to achieve with my own career and after a very frustrating year for me with my injury I cannot wait to get back playing. The responsibility of captaincy is something I have always loved and I hope I can play my part as we rebuild over the next few years".

"I will do everything in my power to make this club successful and I am excited about the challenge".

The head coach, David Ripley, said: "It's an exciting opportunity for Alex and David to shape the future of Northants Cricket in the coming years. The cricket management team believe it's time for a change in direction and to take a longer term view as we look to bring success back to the cricket club".

"Stephen captained the side for two seasons and he was instrumental in shaping the changes in attitude and structure that led the Club to possibly its most successful season in 2013".

"I would like to thank Stephen for his support and I look forward to welcoming Alex back to his leadership role and building on his impressive start in 2013".