Ryan ten Doeschate and Ravi Bopara named Essex captains

Ryan ten Doeschate will captain Essex in the County Championship this season, with Ravi Bopara leading the side in white-ball cricket.

Ten Doeschate, who has captained the limited overs teams for the past two seasons, takes over from James Foster in the Championship.

Head coach Chris Silverwood said: "Ryan will bring many things to the role; he is always a calm head on the field, and has shown over the past two years as limited overs captain how capable he is.

"He is a hugely experienced and professional individual. We are aiming not just for promotion, but to be competitive in Division One, and Ryan is the man to lead us there.

"Ravi is at the stage of his career where he is looking to take on more responsibility, and this is the perfect opportunity to give him that.

"He has played a lot of cricket around the world and will bring that experience into his new role. We have realistic aims to win a limited overs competition this year, and Ravi is excited about the challenge."

Essex have confirmed New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne as one of their overseas players in the T20 Blast. He will be available for seven games.