RAPIDS star Ben Cox has been appointed as Vitality Blast captain for all games when Moeen Ali is unavailable due to England commitments.
The Rapids wicket-keeper-batsman lead the side for the first time this summer in Tuesday’s encounter with Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.
The 29-year-old has previous captaincy experience when he led Worcestershire against Cambridge University and then Leicestershire in a County Championship fixture at the start of the 2019 season when club captain Joe Leach was recovering from injury.
He was also appointed official red ball vice-captain for the 2019 season.
Moeen, who has now linked up with England for T20 duty, had a big part to play in the appointment and believes Cox will thrive in the role.
“I think Ben can thrive off having the responsibility of being captain,” he said.
“I think he is a top guy and is well respected amongst the team, and I think he will lead the boys really well. There were several candidates who have done it before, but I think it is nice to give Ben a go, and I’m sure he will go well in the role.
“He has got a good head on his shoulders and a good knowledge of the game.
“Ben has been around for many years now, and he knows the game well. I think he will do an outstanding job.”
Head coach Alex Gidman said: “Ben is in a great position on the pitch to be able to lead the team. Tactically he gets a really good idea of the situation of the game.
“With the bat, he is batting very maturely in that number five-six spot and being very effective in the game.
“Now we’ve got into the competition, we’ve got a rhythm going, and some excellent role clarity, and Ben is in a great position to be able to run that, to make those decisions as to who is going to be the most effective at certain times of the game.”