STEVE Patterson is relishing the challenging of pushing both himself and Yorkshire forward in 2020.

The White Rose captain is currently enjoying a well-earned period of rest with his young family, but he says it won’t be long before he is itching to get back to work.

Patterson plans to carry on as skipper next year, at least in red ball cricket, after an enjoyable 18 months in charge.

The Beverley-born seamer is about to head into the final year of his current contract at Emerald Headingley and has also been speaking about his future in the game.

“I have enjoyed it,” he said of the captaincy, after guiding Yorkshire to fifth place in this summer’s Specsavers County Championship Division One.

“At times it’s a challenge. When things go well, it’s easy. When it doesn’t go well, it’s how you respond to that. And with a bunch of young lads at times, you have to have patience.

“We’ve had two disappointing weeks at the end, and you can rack your brain thinking, ‘Could I do anything different?’ But sometimes you just have to put your hands up and accept that they were better. That happens in sport because we’ve done that to other teams this year.”

Patterson celebrated his 36th birthday this month, in a year in which he took the 400th wicket of his first-class career, and most of his current rest period will be family time.

“I have two young children and don’t get to see them much in the summer, so I will be spending a lot of time with them and my wife,” he said.

“I’ll let the body refresh and then start training again in order to be able to go again next summer.

“Going forward, if I perform to the same level or better next year, it will justify me continuing to play. If I don’t, my time might be up. But we’ll only know that at the time.”