Double trophy winner Alex Wakely calls time on captaincy at the County Ground

Alex Wakely has resigned as Northants captain

The 30-year-old is stepping down from the role in both red-ball and white-ball cricket with immediate effect.

Wakely's decision brings to an end a captaincy spell that saw the club win two domestic Twenty20 titles, in 2013 and 2016, making him the only captain in the club's history to lift two major trophies.

He led the side 198 times in all formats of the game, which is a figure surpassed only by Geoff Cook, Jim Watts and Allan Lamb, and his tally of 20 first-class victories ranks him as one of the club’s top 10 most successful skippers in the longer game since 1905.

Following Wakely's decision, Adam Rossington will take charge of the side for the Specsavers County Championship match at Durham next week, with Josh Cobb leading the Vitality Blast T20 campaign later in the summer.

A product of Northants' academy and England’s captain in the 2008 Under-19s World Cup, Wakely first took charge of the one-day side in 2013, while also becoming vice-captain to Stephen Peters in the Championship.

That summer saw the Steelbacks claim the T20 honours at Edgbaston and also achieve promotion to Division One in four-day cricket for the first time in a decade.

After missing the entire 2014 season due to an Achilles injury, Wakely was appointed captain in all formats in 2015, and the Steelbacks again reached the T20 final, only to lose narrowly to Lancashire Lightning.

The following season Wakley again led from the front as Northants went one better and upset the financial odds to claim second T20 triumph in Birmingham, seeing off Durham in the final.

Last season saw the County, who operate on one of the smaller budgest in the English domestic game, struggle in all forms, and it has again been a disappointment this summer.

The Steelbacks failed to reach the knockout stages in the 50-over Royal London One Day Cup, and have yet to win a match in the Specsavers County Championship Division Two.

This week they were humbled at the County Ground as they were thrashed by an innings and 143 runs by Glamorgan.

Wakely will continue to play for the club, and will be available for selection for the trip to Durham.