Billy Godleman steps down as Derbyshire captain

The 33-year-old, who has led Derbyshire since 2016, will be replaced by Leus du Plooy

Billy Godleman has stepped down as Derbyshire captain.

The 33-year-old took over the role from Wayne Madsen in 2016 and skippered the club to their maiden T20 Blast Finals Day appearance in 2019.

This season, Derbyshire reached the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast under his leadership as well as finishing fifth in the Division Two of the LV= Insurance County Championship and seventh in group B in the Royal London Cup.

Vice-captain Leus du Plooy, who stood in for Godleman on numerous occasions in 2022, has been named as his replacement.

Head coach, Mickey 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.

^{Leus du Plooy has been named as Godleman's replacement [Ashley Allen/Getty Images]}

"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 also believes "the time is right" for a new captain, adding: "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."