Will Young replaces Ricardo Vasconcelos as Northamptonshire's red-ball captain

New Zealand batter Young made four appearances for the club earlier in the season, scoring 331 runs, before embarking on international duty

Will Young will replace Ricardo Vasconcelos as Northamptonshire's red-ball captain for the remainder of the LV= Insurance County Championship.

The New Zealand batter made four appearances for the club earlier in the season, scoring 331 runs, before embarking on international duty.

He returns to the XI ahead of Northamptonshire's clash with Lancashire, which is scheduled to begin on July 19.

Vasconcelos stepped down as captain following Northamptonshire's last gasp victory over Kent last week, the club's first in Division One for 18 years. However, the top-order batter has only scored 345 runs in eight red-ball outings.

^{Vasconcelos and Young were batting together when the former scored his only century of the season [David Rogers/Getty Images]}

Explaining the decision, Vasconcelos said: "This has been a really tough decision to make. It's been an honour and a privilege being the captain of this club and one that I am extremely proud of. However, I truly believe that this is the best decision for myself as well as the club moving forward.

"We are in great place in red-ball cricket and hopefully we can kick on and continue climbing the table. Now I can fully focus on my batting and scoring big runs again for Northamptonshire."

Head coach, John Sadler, said: "The club fully support Ricardo's decision to step back and understand the reasons behind it. We're all looking forward to seeing him back at his best with the bat and thank him for the work and effort he put in as a leader."