The Pakistan batter, who represented Derbyshire in 2022, signed a two-year contract in August and has been appointed club captain
The opportunity to reunite with Ottis Gibson and share a dressing room with multiple England internationals were the driving factors behind Shan Masood's move to Yorkshire.
The Pakistan batter represented Derbyshire during the 2022 county season, scoring 1,074 runs at 82.61, including three centuries and four half-centuries, in eight LV= Insurance County Championship outings, 203 runs in five Royal London Cup matches, and a further 547 runs at a strike rate of 139.89 in the T20 Blast.
His form earned him both a return to Pakistan's Test plans and 19 T20I caps as well as the attentions of Yorkshire, with whom he signed a two-year deal in August.
Outlining his reasoning behind the move, Masood told Sky Sports: "One of the hardest decisions I had to take was breaking the news to Mickey [Arthur, Derbyshire's head coach]. He was great about it. He said if he was in my place, he'd have done the same thing.
Working with Ottis Gibson was a major attraction for Masood [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]
"Having worked with Ottis in the PSL, getting to know him, getting to know his coaching style, I flourished a lot under that Andy Flower regime at Multan [Sultans] and Ottis was a part of that last year. For myself personally, sharing a dressing room with [Joe] Root, [Jonny] Bairstow, [Dawid] Malan, Harry Brook, Adil Rashid, and Adam Lyth who I played with at Multan. You want to take these opportunities."
Another significant pull for Masood was the chance to replace Steven Patterson as club captain, something he felt might never come his way again if he turned down Yorkshire's advances.
"In terms of captaincy and the stature of the club, it's one of the biggest moves I can have coming my way and to turn it down, I felt I might not get that again. This was a perfect opportunity to go to a club and play cricket my way and help them in whatever way I can," the 33-year-old continued.
"The club has got a target to get back to Division One, get back to doing well in cricket and it's an exciting project.
Masood's T20 Blast form for Derbyshire earned him a spot in Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad [Cameron Spencer/Getty Images]
"Leadership has always given me a chance to be there for everyone else. I'm very accessible as a leader and I don't take anything negatively or personally. I was lucky at Derby to captain the white-ball side, so that gave me a taste of what a dressing room in county cricket can be like. I felt at home and again at Yorkshire, I'm looking forward to it because they've got some really good players. I don't think it will be a tough job."
Masood is one of several new faces confirmed for Yorkshire's squad for the 2023 season.
New Zealand bowler Neil Wagner will be available for the first 10 County Championship matches of the season and David Wiese has been recruited for an overseas slot in the T20 Blast. Ben Mike (Leicestershire) and Matt Milnes (Kent) have been poached from rivals on the county circuit while Yash Vagadia has been promoted from the academy.
Gary Ballance (Zimbabwe), Patterson (retired), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Somerset) and David Willey (Northamptonshire) are among the notable departees.
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