Durham's decision to controversially appoint Cameron Bancroft as captain has been labelled as "gutsy" by their England seamer Mark Wood.
The Australian batsman was named as the county's skipper for 2019 last month after agreeing to be their overseas player in the County Championship and One-Day Cup.
Bancroft's appointment caused a stir given he has only just returned from a nine-month ban for ball tampering during Australia's Test with South Africa at Newlands in March 2018.
Head coach James Franklin backed the decision, and Wood echoed those thoughts – even though he admitted he was initially unsure about Bancroft's suitability for the role.
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"I was surprised, to be perfectly honest, I thought it was a gutsy call," he told Sky Sports.
"When I first thought about it I thought, 'I wouldn't have done that'. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought it's the right option.
"Bancroft will be coming here with a point to prove and anything that's said to him has been said before or he's had worse.
"He's had a horrible time and that will have made him stronger. He's international class in the way he goes about things, so he'll be a total professional and drag people with him."