DeFreitas the former rebel in Leicestershire lead role

One-time England Test all-rounder to set high standards as captain for new season after winter of sweeping changes at Grace Road

Leicestershire's decision to make Phillip DeFreitas their captain for 2003 carries an irony that will not be lost on anyone who has followed the county's fortunes over the last two decades. At 37 and with the coveted "double" of 10,000 first-class runs and 1,000 wickets to his name, the veteran of 44 Test matches and 103 one-day internationals comes with as much experience as any player could bring to the job.

Yet this is, of course, the same Phillip DeFreitas whose first and all-too-enduring reputation in cricket was as the surly, sulky, spoiled kid from north London who had fame thrust upon him far too soon, fell into the dangerous company of high-living team-mates and then told tutting senior pros what they could do with their attempts to set him back on the straight and narrow.

DeFreitas clashed explosively with older county team-mates and made spectacularly unwanted headlines when a prank played on an out-of-sorts Jonathan Agnew resulted in the young upstart's cricket bag being dumped over the Grace Road players' balcony.

Although the truth was not always quite as it was portrayed at the time, he does not deny that the character described did exist. Indeed, he remembers his rebellious past as though it were yesterday and, far from regretting it, believes it will help him avoid becoming the kind of captain that DeFreitas the outspoken teenager despised.

"I was a young kid up from London, making my way on my own, who was suddenly playing for his country, driving a nice car, drawing a decent wage and getting a taste of fame," he said. "It was a wonderful learning curve, but I was very immature and the kind of guidance I needed just wasn't there.

"I had bad things written about me in the papers and encountered jealousy from other players but nobody told me how to deal with it.

"People said and wrote things about me when they did not know me at all and that really upset me," he added. "But the fact that I can still remember exactly how I felt then is good because I can appreciate what goes on in the mind of a young player.

"Although I'm 37 I don't feel like an older player, just someone who has a lot of experience. I've been through so much, had so many ups and downs and I just want the younger players to feel they can come to me and talk about any problem they have." Not that they will find him a soft touch. He and the coach, Phil Whitticase, who has succeeded Jack Birkenshaw in a winter of sweeping change at Grace Road, have outlined the standards to which they insist players adhere and will not readily excuse anyone who slips below them.

"I made some mistakes," DeFreitas said. "But I've always worked hard and been very determined, which I feel is why I made so many comebacks with England.

"I am also a great believer in people being honest, especially with themselves. I don't see any point in telling someone he has played well if he hasn't and I tell players there is no point deceiving yourself if you know you have had a bad game."

DeFreitas left for Lancashire at the end of his first Leicestershire tenure and extended his career with Derbyshire, where he was temporarily captain after Dean Jones left abruptly in 1997.

Off-the-field politics seem to loom large everywhere he goes so after Derbyshire, this winter's upheaval at Leicester, where coach, captain and chief executive have changed and 15 players have come and gone, must feel all too familiar.

Steadfastly, he refuses to become involved. "I'm paid to make decisions on the field," he said. "What happens off the field is up to other people. There have been some problems here but I think the club has done quite well with the squad they have put together."

The newcomers include India's Virender Sehwag, Australia's Brad Hodge and six other recruits, including the Northamptonshire seamer David Masters, the off-spinner Jeremy Snape from Gloucestershire and the wicketkeeper Paul Nixon, who has returned to his former club from Kent.

"We are excited about having Sehwag and Hodge, but there will be no stars and no cliques and no one will be treated differently from anyone else," he said.

Given what he has been through, DeFreitas surprises even himself with his enduring enthusiasm. "I still feel the same as I always have. I've loved playing since I was a kid and I still get a buzz even from practice games. The week before pre-season I was so excited I hardly slept."

But he believes that cricket was his destiny, even though, despite being raised initially in the Caribbean, it was not until he came to England as a 10-year-old that he caught the bug. "I didn't watch much but I loved playing," he explained. "When I was on the MCC groundstaff I remember watching a game between Middlesex and Glamorgan and deciding that this was the life I wanted.

"I even had a weird premonition I would play for Leicestershire. The first time I came to Grace Road, probably with Middlesex Seconds or something, I looked at the place and thought I'd like to play here. I even imagined being offered a contract, which is what happened."

Any premonitions about what Leicestershire achieve under his stewardship, however, are being kept to himself. "I'd rather take one day at a time," he said. "But, if everyone is honest and works hard and we play up to our ability, there is no reason why we cannot challenge for trophies."