Bairstow named new Yorkshire red-ball captain

Jonny Bairstow has made 287 England appearances across all three formats

Jonny Bairstow will captain Yorkshire on their return to Division One of the County Championship.

He takes over the role after it was split between Pakistan batter Shan Masood and Jonny Tattersall last summer.

Bairstow, 35, who made his first-class debut for Yorkshire back in 2009, will also be first-choice wicketkeeper.

While Bairstow will take charge of the red-ball side, Dawid Malan will captain in the T20 Blast.

"It's a huge honour to become Yorkshire captain," Bairstow told BBC Sport.

"It's something as a young boy you dream about. It's something you want to do, no matter if it's the first few years of your career or the last few years of your career.

"To be asked to do that with the group of boys we've got is a proud moment for me, for the family and I hope it's an exciting time this year for the guys."

Bairstow, a veteran of 100 Tests, will lead Yorkshire out for the first time on 4 April away to Hampshire in their first Division One game since 2022.

For the first time since 2018, Bairstow is not at the Indian Premier League and can turn his full attention to the county game.

He has not played a Test since March 2024 and his last T20 international was in the T20 World Cup last summer.

The Bradford-born cricketer, who has made 12 Test centuries and was a World Cup winner in 20-over and 50-over cricket, was a Championship winner with the White Rose in 2014 and 2015.

Now his job is to lead from the front as the team tries to re-establish itself in the top flight following promotion last summer.

Following in dad's footsteps

Bairstow has some captaincy experience with Welsh Fire in The Hundred and he is confident that he has gathered enough experience from playing under many different skippers in his long career.

On a personal note, he is also following in the footsteps of his late father, David, by captaining Yorkshire.

He led his county between 1984 and 1986 with Jonny "proud" to match that achievement.

"That was a long while ago, before I was born," he said. "To replicate that, I'm very proud to do that.

"There are not many father-and-sons have done that previously. That's an exciting part to it, but a side bit to everything that happens on the field."

Dawid Malan has played for Yorkshire since joining from Middlesex ahead of the 2020 season

Malan at helm in T20 Blast

As Bairstow captains the Championship side, Malan will take over when the T20 Blast campaign starts in late May.

The 37-year-old, who joined from Middlesex in 2019, signed a white-ball only contract with the Headingley club last year and will bring all his experience of 92 white-ball appearances for England until he retired from international cricket last summer.

The left-hander will be tasked with improving Yorkshire's poor record in T20 cricket, which has only seen them reach Finals Day three times.

And for new head coach Anthony McGrath, having two such successful internationals driving their club can only be a positive.

"Jonny and Dawid are two of our most senior players and both bring unrivalled international experience to the team," he said.

"The leadership qualities that they both have will undoubtedly stand us in good stead ahead of both competitions.

"To have world-class players in the team, let alone having both as captains, will mean our younger lads will learn a lot this year playing alongside them."