Dickson spoke with club officials before Saturday's game against Stockton then told teammates of his decision to step aside after the seven-wicket loss at Lynn Oval. It ended a two-and-a-half season stint as skipper for Dickson, who top-scored with 67 against Stockton.

The loss left Charlestown eighth on 28 points, eight outside the top four, with four two-day rounds remaining.

Club president Chris Oliver said Arms was made captain at a meeting on Monday and he hoped the change would spark the team.

"There were a few considered but he's a marquee player in the club and it goes without saying that he's probably the right age now to take it on," Oliver said.

"He has a good relationship with all the players so we hope he can renew some energy in the place and get us through.

"We've got a reasonable draw. We're a bit out of it now having lost to Stockton but there's still chances there. It's a very even competition this year."

Oliver said Dickson "was at the point where he felt his focus wasn't there and he felt it was time to hand the reins over". He hoped Dickson would thrive without the pressure of captaincy.

"With that in mind, he batted extremely well on Saturday, so maybe that yoke off his neck might give him another life for the rest of the season, which will be great news for us," he said.

Arms, 26, is fresh from his debut for NSW Country last week and takes on the role in his 10^th season of first grade. He believed the switch could help he and Dickson revive Charlestown's campaign.

"It's obviously something I've always had aspirations for, I guess, but I really enjoyed playing under Jed," Arms said of the captaincy.

"He feels it's the right time to step down and I was happy to do it if the committee was willing to send it my way. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

"Hopefully it's a bit of weight off his shoulders and he can just focus on his batting, finish the season strong and bat like he did on Saturday because he was unreal.

"I feel like I'm hitting the ball quite well, but I haven't really done that well for Charlestown this season. I do feel like I play a little better with some more responsibility sometimes so hopefully I can kick on and score some runs at the back end of the year.

"The loss on the weekend hurt a little bit but I don't think we are out of it by any means. A couple of wins and we're right back in the hunt. If we can put out a good performance this week against City, then hopefully we can get on our winning way and keep it going.

"I kind of find that does happen in Newcastle cricket. You get one or two wins, then three and four aren't far away."

Arms, the son of former Waratah-Mayfield, Newcastle, NSW Country and Australian Country skipper Greg Arms, captained the Charlestown under-21 team for several seasons.

"It's not foreign but I haven't done it for a while," he said of captaining.

"I'll be chewing [Dad's] ear off over the next couple of weeks, just seeing what he thinks and ways we can do things, as I will with other guys like Steve Mace and Adrian Chad - I played golf with him today. And Jed will still be playing, so I'll take in as much as I can."