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With captain Marnus Labuschagne out on international duty, legspinner Mitchell Swepson has been designated Queensland’s official vice-captain and will captain the team in the Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup.
With the hiring of high performance manager Joe Dawes and new coach Johan Botha, Queensland cricket has undergone a dramatic transformation, which is furthered by the decision to promote Swepson to the leadership position.
Long-serving captain Usman Khawaja was replaced by Labuschagne as the permanent captain of Queensland in all formats, even though the latter was also expected to play relatively little during the summer because he was Australia’s first-choice player for both the ODI and Test teams.
For many years, Jimmy Peirson, the wicketkeeper, served as Queensland’s dependable backup and automatic captain in all situations when Khawaja was not available. However, after leading the team in a couple of preseason games, Botha has made the decision to promote Swepson to the position.
“We had quite a bit of leadership chat in the winter, and him [Swepson] and Jimmy were excellent with all of that and the way the group saw them,” Botha told. “I think that’s a big thing as a leader, the group really would play for them and like what they see. And that’s certainly the way we thought about it. We know that Jimmy can do it. He’s still going to be the same Jimmy and the same on and off the field. So we just felt we want to develop another leader.”