Andrew Gale: Yorkshire name captain as coach after Jason Gillespie departure

Andrew Gale averaged only 21 in the Championship during the 2016 season, his lowest for a decade

Yorkshire have appointed Andrew Gale as their new first-team coach.

Gale has given up the club captaincy and ended his playing career at the age of 32 in order to take up the role.

He succeeds Jason Gillespie, who left at the end of the summer after leading Yorkshire to the County Championship title in 2014 and 2015.

Dewsbury-born Gale, who has agreed a three-year contract, has spent his entire career at Headingley, captaining the side for the past seven years.

"It feels a bit surreal really. A couple of weeks ago I was planning on coming back for pre-season but once I was offered the job it just felt right," he told BBC Radio Leeds.

"Last season didn't go to plan for me and I lost a lot of enjoyment for the game and that was one of the key factors that made me accept this. I don't think it works when people try to play and coach. I don't think I would have done either job justice.

"I know the group inside out, so hopefully it will be a smooth transition."

Former Australia fast bowler Gillespie, 41, stood down in September after five seasons in charge for "family reasons".

Yorkshire finished third in this year's Championship, after losing to new champions Middlesex on the final day of the season.

Gale made his Yorkshire debut in 2004 and scored 8,217 first-class runs at an average of 36.03, including 20 centuries.

Under Gale's captaincy, Yorkshire won promotion to Division One in 2012 - Gillespie's first summer in charge - were runners-up in 2013 and champions the following two seasons.

He gave up the limited-overs captaincy for 2016 and they were beaten in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup semi-finals under Alex Lees, who will be a candidate to lead the team in all three formats.

Gale and Jason Gillespie led Yorkshire to their first county title in 13 years in 2014

Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon confirmed the club received 16 applications for the coach's job, but said Gale was an "obvious choice".

He continued: "In the short-term, we need someone who can manage the first XI which is, in Championship cricket, a pretty senior group.

"I think it's important that we keep that continuity within the group and protect the environment that we've created, one that has been so successful for us.

"The long-term vision is to ensure that we have someone who can oversee the natural transition that will occur as the senior players retire and the younger players take over in their places."