YORKSHIRE skipper Andrew Gale believes new one-day captain Alex Lees can bring white-ball success to Headingley – but must learn to deal with the pressures that come with the role.

Gale gave up the limited-overs captaincy in August in order to concentrate on leading the side in Championship cricket, and Lees will be charged with trying to lead the Tykes to a first one-day trophy since 2002 after a series of near misses, most recently when losing in the semi-finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup to eventual winners Gloucestershire in 2015.

And Gale admits that Lees will have to field questions from supporters and media alike as to why the team have struggled to reach the same heights as the Championship side after back-to-back title wins.

“It’s a different pressure when you’re not just filling in for someone and doing it full time,” he said.

“Every pre-season or end-of-season dinner I go to, I get asked about the disappointment of white-ball cricket. That’s going to be a challenge for him – to take it on his own shoulders.

“It’s built ever since we got to that Finals Day in 2012, and never kicked on from it.

"Every year it gets asked ‘why are we so disappointing in white-ball cricket?’ We haven’t been able to put our finger on why.”

While much of Lees’ focus is likely to be on leading the side to silverware in one-day cricket, the 22-year-old must also re-find the form that saw him selected for the England Lions in 2013 and 2014.

And Gale believes the youngster must not let the captaincy get in the way of his international ambitions, having himself played for the Lions before falling out of contention in recent years.

“He’s got to be careful that he manages his own expectations of playing for England.

“He’s 22 years old, and I believe he could be a future England player. He needs to make sure the captaincy doesn’t get in the way of that.

“I was in and around (the England set-up), and I can tell him about that experience. I’m there for him if he needs me on any subject. If he wants to do it all on his own, I’m fine with that too.”