Marnus to lead Bulls in Shield as captaincy credentials grow

Marnus Labuschagne's captaincy credentials will be significantly boosted when he leads Queensland for the first time at Marsh Sheffield Shield level in the game against South Australia starting at Adelaide Oval tomorrow.

Labuschagne made his debut as skipper in yesterday's Marsh One Day Cup loss to the Redbacks with keeper Jimmy Peirson – who usually leads the Bulls in the absence of official captain Usman Khawaja – absent with knee soreness.

Peirson has been named in a 13-man Queensland squad – which also includes rising limited-overs sensation Xavier Bartlett and Australia Under-19 World Cup-winning quick Callum Vidler while former Test batter Joe Burns has been dropped – for the Shield game, but Labuschagne retains the captaincy to further expand his leadership experience.

Despite the five-wicket defeat against bottom-placed SA in the final round of One Day Cup fixtures, Labuschagne top scored for his team with a hard-fought 74 (from 99 balls) on a seamer-friendly pitch and claimed he revelled in his maiden senior outing as skipper.

"It was my first go and I'm sure I'm going to come across more hurdles if I get the opportunity to do it a bit more," he told cricket.com.au at game's end yesterday.

"But I just loved it. Loved the experience to see the boys grow and learn, and love to help them out there.

"It's just working together with the bowlers, coming up with ideas and trying to empower the playing group to really continue to grow.

"A really easy group to lead. We did an amazing job with the runs we had (218), seeing a few of the boys come up with different plans and different ideas to create wickets through the middle overs."

While the upcoming Shield encounter will serve as Labuschagne's final hit-out before the two-Test Qantas Tour of New Zealand later this month, he admits his innings against the white ball yesterday provided as stern a challenge as anything he can expect in the red-ball arena.

The 29-year-old went to the middle yesterday with Queensland 2-14 in the fourth over and SA speedster Henry Thornton in the midst of a blistering spell that would yield him 2-7 from his first six overs.

The going proved just as tough against Australia A quick Jordan Buckingham who returned career-best list-A figures of 6-41 on a pitch at Karen Rolton Oval that offered plenty to new-ball bowlers and continued to 'nip' throughout the day.

Labuschagne managed just one boundary from the first 34 deliveries that brought him a total of seven runs, and was forced to rely on Test match-style defence as he negotiated conditions similar to what Australia expect in upcoming matches against NZ at Wellington and Christchurch.

"It worked out well from a personal perspective," Labuschagne said of his highest individual score at interstate or international level since his 124 against South Africa in an ODI last September.

"I got to spend some time out in the middle on a pretty juicy wicket, against probably one of the best domestic bowling line-ups going around in the country at the moment.

"Just being able to find a way to get through that really tough period. "It nipped around for maybe 25 or 30 overs, it was a lot.

"So you had to be creative at trying to put the bowler under pressure, but also have good defence.

"It seems to be a role I've played a lot in the last few years (in ODIs) for Australia as well, batting at five and coming in when we're 3-40, 3-50 and being able to navigate that scenario.

"I was a little bit disappointed because I needed to really get that 120, 130 score and that would have got us to 280 so I was frustrated with my dismissal. I think I could have made a better job of it but that's how it goes."

Currently bottom of the Shield ladder, Queensland have also named fellow NZ Test squad members Matthew Renshaw and Michael Neser although Australia opener Khawaja has been rested ahead of the opening match against the Black Caps starting at Basin Reserve on February 29.

Bartlett has been named for what is potentially his first Shield appearance of the season after starring for Australia in recent Dettol ODI and T20I Series matches against West Indies, while Vidler – Australia's leading wicket-taker in the World Cup win in South Africa – is in line for his Queensland debut.

SA have also named a 13-man squad, with explosive talent Jake Fraser-McGurk expected to take his place at the top of the batting order despite being forced to sit out most of yesterday's Marsh Cup game due to back soreness.

Fraser-McGurk had made a rushed trip back from Perth after being overlooked for a T20I debut against West Indies, and was unable to bat during the Redbacks' successful run chase because of the time he had spent off the field throughout the bowling innings.

Jake Carder has been included in the squad as cover for the ODI-capped power hitter who is tipped to be tried as a Shield opener for the first time if fit, while left-handed batter Kyle Brazell has also been named and is expected to make his SA debut in a match that could decide this season's Shield wooden spoon.

Test keeper Alex Carey will take the gloves for SA having completed a record-equalling eight catches in yesterday's Marsh Cup game, with fellow keeper Harry Nielsen retaining his place as a specialist batter following his exceptional recent form.

South Australia squad: Jake Lehmann (c), Wes Agar, Kyle Brazell, Jordan Buckingham, Jake Carder, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Brendan Doggett, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Harry Nielsen.

Queensland squad: Marnus Labuschagne (c), Xavier Bartlett, Jack Clayton, Angus Lovell, Ben McDermott, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Gurinder Sandhu, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Callum Vidler. Jack Wildermuth.

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points