YORKSHIRE have announced that Steve Patterson will continue as club captain after being appointed on a full-time basis across all three formats.

The seam bowler initially took over from Gary Ballance in an interim role at the start of the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign in May last year, and was subsequently appointed until the end of the 2018 campaign in mid-June.

The Beverley-born 35-year-old, who had previously never captained a side at first-team level, was a mainstay of the title-winning successes of 2014 and 2015, and has taken 372 wickets in 140 first-class matches for Yorkshire since making his debut in 2005.

“It came about in a strange fashion last year and I didn’t have much time to prepare for it,” Patterson told yorkshireccc.com.

“I just ran with it as best I could and tried to get us through the season. Having the winter to plan and prepare will enable me to put my stamp on it and to try and influence it the way I’d like to, with a good bunch of exciting lads.

“I see in the group what I saw six or seven years ago when Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance and Adam Lyth were young and were all developing in their own way.

"With Harry Brook, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Will Fraine we’ve got lads that could go on and have some real success. So I’m excited go on and help to try and nurture those lads to have some success.

“For me it’s about what we represent for Yorkshire. I’ve grown up supporting the club from being a young kid. It was my dream to play for Yorkshire, so to go and play for and then captain Yorkshire means everything to me.

"I want that message to run through the lads and to make sure when we go out there we’re representing the county, those people that follow us and support us day in, day out. I want us to make a statement every week about who we represent.”

Patterson was one of five captains in 2018 – due to separate finger fractures in April and August. It was just the fourth season in the official County Championship’s history since it started in 1890 in which Yorkshire used that many captains.

Director of cricket Martyn Moxon added: “He did fantastically well last summer both on and off the field. He’s relishing the role and has got his feet under the table now and it’s an easy decision for him to continue as club captain for the foreseeable future.

“When you’re under pressure and a couple of decisions go against you, you need that calm head to calm everyone down and not panic. Steve’s very good at that.

"He’s very capable in taking the heat out of situations; thinking logically and calmly and making the right decisions at pressure times and last year he was outstanding at being able to do that.

“He is comfortable with his own game and I think as a captain you have to be. You have to comfortable in your own skin as it were and Patto has got to that point now where he is.

"He knows what he’s doing from his own game point of view and as a person and that stands him in good stead for his role as captain and all the things that go with it.”

Coach Andrew Gale believes Patterson, capped in 2012 and with just short of 300 appearances for the White Rose under his belt, will bring the necessary experience required to guide the club’s talented crop of youngsters.

“I thought he did an outstanding job last year and he’s an intelligent lad,” said Gale. “He knows his cricket, is vastly experienced and has the respect of the players.

"He speaks well in the group and the players reacted well to him at the back end of last season and I’m pleased for Patto. He has grown into the role within the group and I think he’s a good fit for us.”