Shan Masood to captain Derbyshire in T20 Blast

Billy Godleman began last season as the county's T20 captain, but he was replaced midway through last season as he struggled for runs

Shan Masood has been named as Derbyshire's captain for the T20 Blast.

Among Mickey Arthur's first moves after his arrival as the county's head of cricket was to select Billy Godleman as his red-ball captain, and he has moved to appoint Masood – Godleman's County Championship opening partner – as skipper for the upcoming Blast campaign.

Godleman, 33, led Derbyshire in the Blast under Dominic Cork when they reached Finals Day for the first time in 2019, but he was dropped midway through last season's tournament, having struggled badly for form.

Matt Critchley replaced him at the helm, but the leg-spinner has since left for Essex.

^{Masood is Multan Sultans' leading run-scorer in the PSL (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)}

"Shan has an aura about him, he has a stature and the players support him," said Arthur.

"He comes in as captain and Leus du Plooy will be vice-captain, so there's a leadership change there, and one that I'm excited to see go about their work in white-ball cricket."

Masood has plenty of pedigree in T20 cricket; the left-hander, who has enjoyed a terrific start to life as a Derbyshire player with two double hundreds in six first-class matches, is Multan Sultans' all-time leading run-scorer in the Pakistan Super League.