Alex Lees appointed Yorkshire one-day captain

Alex Lees has been confirmed as Yorkshire's youngest ever full-time limited-overs captain ahead of the 2016 season.

Lees, who has won back-to-back Championship titles with Yorkshire in the last two summers, takes over the white-ball captaincy from Andrew Gale who stepped down last season.

Yorkshire reached the semi-finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup last season, only to be knocked out by eventual winners, Gloucestershire Gladiators.

Lees, an England Lions batsman, said: "It gives me great pride to be leading Yorkshire in one-day cricket.

"This is a big county with lots of potential and opportunity. It is an exciting time to be part of a team that has high hopes of trying to win some silverware in white-ball cricket.

"I'm only 22, but I have a lot to offer as captain. I will be very open with my approach and will lean on the experienced players to drive us on and be successful."

Lees, 22, has scored 961 first-class runs at an average of 35.59, with his highest score of 102 coming against Northamptonshire in 2014.

Yorkshire are without limited-overs silverware since 2002 and they have also failed to progress from the group stages of the Twenty20 format for the last three seasons.

Yorkshire coach, Jason Gillespie, said: "Alex [Lees] captained the side in a number of fixtures in the 50-over and Twenty20 competitions last season and we thought he did a pretty good job.

"After considering a number of candidates, we feel Alex is the right fit for us as captain. He learnt a lot on the job last season and we think he can develop as a leader further.

"We are delighted to afford him this opportunity and believe that he will do a fantastic job for our club."

The 2016 county fixtures were announced this week and county Champions Yorkshire will start their defence against Hampshire at Headingley on April 17.