Mark Pettini, the 23-year-old Essex opening batsman, was named as the county’s new captain, succeeding Ronnie Irani, who has retired through injury. Pettini becomes the youngest county captain in the country and the second-youngest captain in Essex history, beaten by only a few months by Denys Wilcox in 1933.

Pettini’s rise has been rapid. In the 2006 edition of the Cricketers’ Who’s Who, his lowly status at the club seeped through his entry. Under “ambitions”, he wrote “to make it into the first team; under “cricketers most admired”, he wrote “anyone in Essex first team”. He received his county cap at the end of last season after scoring 1,218 runs at an average of 47, having played only 11 first-class matches in his previous five seasons.

A variety of rumours have circulated about the identity of the new captain, with Adam Hollioake and even Chris Adams, of Sussex, being among the less likely, but Pettini, who has stood in for Irani since his knee injury, was the obvious choice.

Pettini was born in Sussex but spent his early years living in Sydney, Australia. His family moved back to England, settling in Cambridge, when he was ten and he spoke yesterday of being taken to Fenner’s as a child, where he would watch Essex play against the University. “People like Graham Gooch, Nasser Hussain, Ronnie Irani, they seemed like giants to me,” Pettini said. “Gooch seemed to score a hundred every time he played. It’s a huge responsibility but I’m confident I’ll be up to the task.”

The likable batsman, whose career stalled when he was a student at Cardiff University, becomes only Essex’s tenth captain since the Second World War, a successor to such great players as Gooch, Keith Fletcher and Doug Insole.

It was also announced yesterday that James Foster, the 27-year-old former England wicketkeeper, will be Pettini’s vice-captain and Paul Grayson, the former England one-day spin bowler, will be the new first team coach. Gooch will remain as the county’s batting coach.