Queensland cricket has undergone a significant leadership shake-up, with legspinner Mitchell Swepson appointed as the official vice-captain. Swepson will lead the side in both the One-Day Cup and the Sheffield Shield when captain Marnus Labuschagne is absent on international duty.
The decision to elevate Swepson to the leadership role is part of a broader restructuring under new coach Johan Botha and high performance manager Joe Dawes. Labuschagne was named permanent captain in all forms, replacing Usman Khawaja, despite his limited availability due to his commitments to the Australian Test and ODI teams.
Swepson’s elevation comes after he led the side in several pre-season games. Botha praised Swepson’s leadership qualities, noting that the group “really would play for them and like what they see.”
Swepson will make his captaincy debut in Queensland’s opening One-Day match against Tasmania on Wednesday. He will also lead the side against Victoria on Friday. Usman Khawaja will miss the match against Tasmania but will play against Victoria.
Swepson has been Queensland’s first-choice Shield spinner for years, but he has limited experience in the shorter format. However, Botha believes that Swepson’s challenge as a spin bowling captain will come in Shield cricket rather than the shorter format.
“I think in One-Day cricket it’s easier to captain as a spinner, because the game sort of tells you when to bowl,” Botha said. “But in four-day cricket is he going to be brave enough to bowl the 17th over of the Shield game on day one. But that’s what we’ll keep, sort of pushing him towards to get himself into the game.”
Swepson is pushing for a place on Australia’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in late January. He played the last of his four Tests in Sri Lanka in 2022 but missed out on selection during last year’s tour of India.
Botha has been impressed with Swepson’s bowling during his first pre-season in charge of the Bulls. The coach is hoping to use Swepson more aggressively this year, even in seam-friendly conditions at the Gabba.
“I’ve been really impressed with him,” Botha said. “His control for a legspinner has been excellent, and you can see why he has played Test cricket in the past. He got 30 wickets last year. So we’re hoping for more of that this summer, and I think in our team we certainly want to use the spinners more and better and earlier in games.”
