Brett D’Oliveira has realised his “boyhood dream” after becoming the first member of his distinguished cricketing family to be officially appointed Worcestershire CCC Club Captain.

He is also the first Club Captain to be born in the city of Worcester, and Head Coach Alex Gidman described D’Oliveira as “an inspirational captain that any player would want to play for” after confirming the appointment.

"Brett possesses a lot of great leadership qualities," he added.

"First and foremost, he is an excellent tactician. Watching him captain a few years ago, it was a pleasure to watch him lead the team tactically.

"He speaks very clearly to the group, communicates very well and alongside that, he is a really inspirational leader, the sort of captain that any player would want to play for.

"I’m sure he will get the best out of the individuals and the collective team. Really looking forward to watching those qualities come out.

"He is in a really good place with his personal cricket, and we are excited to watch the captaincy work alongside that."

D’Oliveira’s grandfather, Basil, and late father, Damian, represented Worcestershire between them for more than 30 years before becoming First Team Coach and Academy Director, respectively.

D'Oliveira will become Club Captain after Joe Leach stood down from the role in September after five seasons in charge.

D’Oliveira said: "It has been an emotional couple of days. The opportunity came up, and I was fortunate to get the call from Alex (Gidman) and then Paul (Pridgeon), and I just grabbed it with both hands.

"You do things in life and have opportunities like this, and you hope those (family) who are no longer here will be very proud, but I’m also proud and know I’ve made my family proud that are around me as well.

"Looking back to those days when as a youngster I used to run around the outfield seems surreal. But it’s been a boyhood dream, if I’m honest, spending all my lifetime at Worcestershire and now being given the opportunity to captain."

D’Oliveira replaced the injured Leach as captain during the second half of the 2018 season and was also in charge of the T20 side in Moeen Ali’s absence during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns - when the Rapids won the Vitality Blast and finished runners-up the following year.