ANDREW Gale has revealed that he first thought about resigning as Yorkshire's limited-overs captain after last month's Twenty20 defeat against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.

Gale has stepped down from the captaincy in both forms of white-ball cricket with immediate effect after Martyn Moxon and Jason Gillespie talked him out of doing it a month earlier.

The 31-year-old left-handed batsman will continue to skipper the team in four-day cricket but he has been replaced in coloured clothing by Alex Lees until the end of the season.

The identity of a long-term leader for one-day and T20 cricket will be discussed in the winter.

Yorkshire announced the news during the early stages of their Royal London Cup one-day defeat to Somerset at Scarborough, in which they failed to recover from 7-3 having won the toss.

They were bowled out for 175, which included a last-wicket stand of 67 between Karl Carver and Matt Fisher, before Somerset knocked off the runs with six wickets in hand and 11.5 overs to spare.

Gale cited the need for a new approach to white-ball cricket and his desire to improve his one-day and T20 form as his two main reasons for relinquishing a role he has held since 2010.

"It was something I spoke about with Dizzy and Martyn after the Roses game at Old Trafford but they talked me out of it," he said.

"To be captain for nearly six years and step away from it, it was a tough decision.

"I just felt over the last few months, it started to get on top of me and exhausted me a little bit – particularly with the Twenty20s and the way things have gone.

"Now's the right time for a fresh voice in the dressing room and fresh direction – and to get my own form back as well.

"To be honest, over the last few years my form's been average and I've always prided myself on being a good one-day and Twenty20 player. I think the captaincy held me back a little bit."