Yorkshire County Cricket Club have been rocked by one of the biggest bombshells in their history with the shock news Chris Adams has decided not to take up his dual role as captain and the man in charge of professional cricket.

Instead, Adams will stay as captain of county champions Sussex but without any immediate managerial responsibilities.

Adams still had one year of his contract to run with Sussex when he agreed at the beginning of this month to join Yorkshire on a lucrative four-year deal.

Speaking exclusively to The Press, Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan said: "It appears as if it was too massive a challenge for Adams, who did not want to harm his chances of becoming a successful manager by taking on the job and failing. It seems as if it was too much too soon for him.

"We tried to persuade him that he would have the full support of the board, the coaching staff and the players but he would not change his mind.

"It is only two weeks since it was announced he would be joining us but he has exercised his right to change his mind and I am very disappointed.

"Perhaps it was while talking to the players and coaches that he realised the size of the job and felt it was too big for him to handle.

"One thing I can say is the board will be wanting a similar structure to when Adams was appointed, which means we will be looking for a player to replace Craig White as captain and, if necessary, to consider a second person to come in as director of professional cricket."

Adams, who was due to take up his full-time duties at Headingley in about a fortnight, met the Yorkshire players for the first time at an informal gathering on Monday.

He is reported to have been in a buoyant mood but then returned to his Sussex home and yesterday called in on Sussex officials at Hove.

Adams later stunned Yorkshire chiefs by telephoning to say he felt he had taken on more than he could chew and was standing down from the appointment.

Yorkshire responded with a short official statement which said: "It is with great disappointment that Yorkshire CCC announce Chris Adams' decision to remain at Sussex despite his agreement to move to Headingley Carnegie as captain and director of pro-cricket.

"Having visited the club on two occasions and discussed his new role, Chris feels the challenge facing him is too much too soon. He has made the decision to remain at Sussex as a player where he will honour his contract and will look to move into management role when the time is right."

Regan added: "The club are shell-shocked by Chris's decision. Having spent time with him on Monday night, it came as a great surprise the following afternoon to hear of his change of heart.

"We had offered him the chance to carry on playing while providing the opportunity he desired to move into a managerial role.

"It is a big job, that is true, but Chris and our board felt it was a challenge he was up to, and it is very disappointing he will not now be coming."

Rocked by the news, the management board will talk by telephone today to decide on their next course of action, while the stunned playing staff were informed of the situation late yesterday afternoon.

Yorkshire will obviously be keen to seek the views of Geoff Boycott, who joined the management board in March, and was one of the prime movers in the signing for next season of Pakistan Test batsman Younis Khan.

Although no plan has yet been put together, one option may be to invite disenchanted batsman Anthony McGrath to retake the captaincy. The Bradford-born batsman was in charge in 2003 but stood down as he felt he could not concen-trate on the job due to his England commitments.

McGrath still has two years of his contract to run but has indicated he wants to leave because of the way the club has been managed.

Regan and the board spoke again to McGrath after Adams had pulled out yesterday. They confirmed he would not be released from his contract.

McGrath is believed to have been unhappy with the way former director of cricket David Byas ran the first team. After Adams' appointment, Byas was offered the new role of head of cricket development but has still not decided whether to accept the post.