McGrath beat off other candidates

Anthony McGrath has been named as Yorkshire's new captain to replace Darren Lehmann in the coming season.

Bradford-born McGrath made his county debut in 1995 and has scored more than 5,500 first-class runs during his career.

The 27-year-old beat off Richard Blakey, who deputised for much of last season and led the team to victory in the B&H Cup final, Michael Vaughan and Darren Gough to land the job.

Vaughan's England commitments ruled him out of contention, while Gough has ongoing fitness problems.

Lehmann, who was at the helm last season as Yorkshire were relegated, is expected to be unavailable for much of the season on international duty.

Yorkshire have had some great captains in the past and I'll do everything I can to emulate them Anthony McGrath

The batsman has also come under fire after his racist outburst aimed at Sri Lankan players during the VB Series.

But Yorkshire insisted that this has nothing to do with his removal.

"Darren is contracted to Australia until December 2003 and it is unlikely he will be able to play in the forthcoming season," said cricket director Geoff Cope.

"He's delighted for Anthony McGrath and sees the appointment as a positive step for the future.

"If he's not selected by Australia he will be contracted to Yorkshire and will support Anthony in every way."

Yorkshire have also unveiled a new coaching structure following last week's departure of Australian Wayne Clark with a year of his contract still to run.

Clark led them to the Championship title in his first season in charge, but they were relegated to Division Two last summer.

Arnie Sidebottom, the father of left-arm seamer Ryan, will work with the team as a specialist bowling coach, with Kevin Sharp returning to Headingley to work with the batsmen.

Sharp has been working at the Bradford/Leeds University Centre of Cricket Excellence.