Billy Godleman has stepped down as Derbyshire captain.
Godleman, who passed 10,000 career first-class runs in the final game of the 2022 season, has led Derbyshire since 2016, including to a first Vitality Blast Finals Day appearance in 2019.
Leus du Plooy, who was vice-captain for Derbyshire’s impressive 2022 Vitality Blast run and captained the side on a number of occasions during the season, including two LV= County Championship fixtures, will replace Godleman as Club Captain, having made 100 appearances since joining in 2019.
Head of Cricket, Mickey Arthur, now turns his attention to the 2023 season, having already made two signings to bolster the Derbyshire squad.
Arthur said: “Billy has led the team with great purpose and will continue to be a senior figure within our squad, but we both feel the time is right to make this change and restructure the leadership team ahead of the 2023 season.
“For more than half-a-decade, Billy has been a dedicated Derbyshire captain, however now we have the opportunity for a new voice, in Leus [du Plooy], to lead the team and bring a fresh approach.
“Billy can now focus on what he does best, scoring runs for Derbyshire, without having the pressure of captaincy. His record is one that most sides would love to have in their ranks, and I hope we can see more of his quality next season.”
Godleman added: “I sat down with Mickey [Arthur] and we had a good catch-up about the season and my thoughts about captaincy, future leadership and my seven seasons as captain.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as captain but reflecting on this season I think that with Mickey coming in and giving the Club new impetus, the time is now right for me to hand over the reins to a new leadership group as Wayne Madsen did to me in 2016.
“Seven seasons as a captain is a long time and the highlights for me will always be the strong personal relationships I’ve built with players past and present both on and off the field, while I am particularly proud to have led the Club to their first T20 Finals Day in 2019.
“I very much hope that I can continue to be successful with Derbyshire, scoring lots of runs in all formats, and look forward to providing any support and insight I can to Leus.”
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