ED Young has described being named as the new Wiltshire captain for the 2017 season as a huge honour after it was announced he had landed the role permanently. The former Gloucestershire all-rounder took over from outgoing captain Michael Coles at the tail-end of last season after he stood down.

Young, who was vice captain in 2016, believes there won’t be too much of a difference in his role and is looking forward to the challenge ahead.

“At the end of last season I was vice captain and when Michael Coles retired, we played a game against Cornwall at Corsham, so it was a natural progression that I took over,” said the new Wiltshire captain.

“If the vice captain isn’t going to move to be captain, then there is probably no point in having a vice captain.

“It won’t be too much different to be honest. I just need to make sure everything is in place and then obviously have the responsibility of picking the team.

“It’ll be a case of choosing the right dynamic for the team, assessing the conditions and putting the right tactics in place to win the game.

“I quite liked the step up in responsibility (last season). I always tried to help Mike out when I could with tactics and when he was away, to take on the full responsibility was a good challenge.”

At the end of last season Young, who plays his club cricket for Potterne, enjoyed his brief stint as captain and decided it was something he wanted to do full time. “It’s obviously a great accolade and a huge honour to be asked to be captain of Wiltshire and it’s something I’m privileged to be able to do,” he added.

“When I first started playing cricket, I had my mind set on playing professional cricket and playing for England.

“As things have developed, this is something which has popped up and it’s a privilege to be asked to be captain of a county.”

Young also took encouragement from the last three games of the campaign and aims to continue that success in the 2017 season.

“The last three games we played last season were awesome. We played some really good cricket and some young guys came in and played well,” said Young.

“I’m looking forward to just seeing how they develop as cricketers. It’s about winning games and seeing how players develop, that’s what interests me as captain.”