Bulls name new skipper for Matador

Rookie captain Jason Floros will lead the my FootDr Queensland Bulls in this summer’s Matador BBQs One-Day Cup campaign following today’s squad announcement.

With regular Bulls captain Usman Khawaja unavailable due to his international commitments with Australia on the Qantas Tour of South Africa, Canberra-born Floros gets his opportunity to skipper Queensland for the first time.

Australia representatives Joe Burns and Chris Lynn have been included in the 14-man squad, along with boom spinner Mitchell Swepson and IPL final hero Ben Cutting.

“’Flo’ (Floros) captained the boys well on a few occasions during the pre-season and has done some good things in the past in that role for the Queensland Academy of Sport in the Futures League and for Wynnum-Manly in the Premier competition,’’ Queensland coach Phil Jaques said.

“We’re pretty comfortable giving him this responsibility and opportunity.

“It’s good for Usman (Khawaja) that he is back in the Aussie set-up and we’re pleased to welcome Joe Burns back into the Queensland ranks in the wake of his Australia A efforts.

“We all hope some strong performances can help him win back his position at the top of the order for Australia." 

Swepson and wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson return to the Bulls squad after turning out for the Cricket Australia XI last summer, with the leg-spinner set to make his Queensland 50-over debut.

Left-handed top-order batsman Sam Heazlett will miss the tournament after sustaining a thigh strain while playing for Australia A recently.

The Bulls begin their campaign on October 1 against the CA XI at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field then tackle Tasmania two days later.

The squad then travel to Perth to face Western Australia and South Australia before heading to Sydney for the back-end of the competition. 

“We’ve had a pretty consistent pre-season,” said Jacques. “The boys are nice and fit after working well with (strength and conditioning coach) Paul Chapman since he came on board earlier this year.

“We’ve been able to get good playing time into the majority of the squad as well as some other players around the group and are looking forward to a few final tune-ups against Auckland on the Gold Coast this week.”

Queensland squad: Jason Floros (c), Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Luke Feldman, Cameron Gannon, Peter George, Marnus Labuschagne, Chris Lynn, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Nathan Reardon, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson