John Crawley will put the worst episode of his career firmly behind him when he leads Hampshire into the new season.

Crawley's last experience of county captaincy ended in acrimony but the former Lancashire skipper is adamant that there is no chance of a repeat with Hampshire.

It was in Crawley's last season at Old Trafford that his time with the Red Rose county started to turn sour.

Lancashire narrowly avoided relegation in the championship, having finished as runners up in Crawley's first two seasons as captain, and reaching the semi-finals of the C&G Trophy was offset by a poor season in the second division of the National League.

Crawley and coach Bobby Simpson worked well together but a growing rift with the Lancashire committee meant there were already doubts over Simpson's future when committee member Paul Allott, in his role as Sky commentator, criticised Crawley during the C & G semi-final against Leicestershire.

Rain meant the Grace Road match had to start on the reserve day and conditions were still murky and damp when Crawley decided to bat first.

Lancashire were thrashed by seven wickets but Allott's comments on air undermined Crawley and the relationship between he and Simpson and sections of the Lancashire hierarchy deteriorated rapidly after that.

Crawley spent the winter trying to sue for breach of contract, which was eventually bought out a year ago, having been axed as skipper during one of the messiest episodes in Lancashire's history.

But after a season at Hampshire he is happy to captain again.

"It's no secret that I had the odd problem at the last place I played but that's all in the past," said the 31-year-old. "I've always enjoyed captaincy and enjoyed it immensely at Lancashire, especially when we were getting the opposition out and winning games.

"A lot of what went wrong there revolved around a lack of communication off the field. There were a number of people involved but my experience of Hampshire is that it's far better run and more streamlined.

"Problems are sorted out quicker, people in positions above you have direct authority to sort things out, and decisions don't go through several people who don't have the cricketing experience that they could have.

"I've got no qualms about anything like that happening here. The back up people who work above us, the chairman, the director of cricket, make the whole set up very different to what I experienced at Lancashire."

Lancashire reached the B&H and Natwest semi finals in Crawley's second season in charge but he was criticised for only winning one trophy - the National League in 1999 - despite having a talented squad at his disposal.

But now he has set his sights on leading Hampshire to success on four fronts.

Crawley, who has also captained Cambridge University and England under 19s, added: "The team is capable of promotion in both divisions and that should be our ambition but there are four trophies that we want to do well in.

"The Twenty20 cup is new and exciting and if the players are relaxed and positive I'm sure we'll do progress in it.

"We're fine tuning the batting order at the moment but we have far more strength in depth and competition for places this year."

Crawley will be replaced by Shane Warne next year but is just delighted to be captaining Hampshire while the Aussie sees out his year-long ban.

"It's indicative of the place that the club are standing by Shane and I'm sure he will make an inspirational captain," added the Cambridge graduate, whose England ambitions remain as strong as ever.

"It maybe that I'm not available all season - every county cricketer should have ambitions to play for England.

"I didn't set the world alight in Australia but I fought as hard as a I possibly could and I'm determined to make sure I get the first crack of the whip with England."