McGrath gets captain’s role for Yorkshire

9:22am Wednesday 21st May 2008

Yorkshire cricket captain Darren Gough will miss today's LV County Championship division one clash with Surrey at the Brit Oval.

The former England paceman has been suffering with niggling back and leg problems, so he will be rested to allow him a chance to fully recover.

Long-serving batsman Anthony McGrath will take over as skipper, leading a team which includes Pakistan seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for the first time.

Rana passed a fitness test on his shoulder earlier this week and will spearhead an attack which could also see a debut for Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who is preferred to Ben Sanderson.

Director of cricket Martyn Moxon said: "It is important we manage Darren's workload carefully and, although he could have played at The Oval, we want to have him firing for us in the three Friends Provident matches which are coming up.

"He is standing down against Surrey mainly as a precautionary measure."

Yorkshire must bounce back from last week's County Championship defeat by Durham at the Riverside.

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