ASHLEY Giles has every confidence that Jim Troughton will rise to the challenges of captaincy at Warwickshire this season.

The Bears are stepping up preparations for the 2011 season and will travel to the Caribbean next Monday for a two-week stay in Barbados.

During that trip they will play a two-day game plus some 40-over and Twenty20 cricket under Troughton who took over as skipper following the resignation of Ian Westwood early in the winter.

The 32-year-old led the Bears for most of the T20 last summer so has had a glimpse of the leadership and its demands.

Those pressures and demands will multiply hugely in the months ahead now that he is club captain and leading the team in all formats but director of cricket Giles believes the former Stratford-upon-Avon left-hander will rise to them.

“Jim jumped at the opportunity when I asked him to take over,” he said.

“He plays in all formats which is a big bonus for us and he has played in every game for the last two years.

“He is highly-respected amongst the team, well-liked and Warwickshire through and through and he is at that age which is a good time for him to get the captaincy. It just raises the bar for him and gives him that challenge.

“In the T20 last season I thought he did very well tactically and actually seemed to move his game up a level.