Queensland finished runners-up in last season's Sheffield Shield and have identified plenty of areas for improvement
Queensland preview: Bulls fast-bowling depth to be tested early
Languishing in sixth place on the Sheffield Shield table at the halfway point of last season, Queensland's 2024-25 summer looked to be heading for disaster.
But the Bulls, under new coach Johan Botha, rallied to win three of their final five matches to qualify for the decider against South Australia.
The returns of Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne boosted an otherwise inexperienced red-ball top order and saw Queensland finish the season with plenty of momentum.
And for Botha and his Bulls, avoiding another slow start is high on the agenda for the new season.
Queensland one-day squad v Victoria (Wednesday, September 17): Marnus Labuschagne (c), Jack Clayton, Benji Floros, Lachlan Hearne, Hayden Kerr, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Gurinder Sandhu, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth
"Last year our first Shield win was game six," Botha told cricket.com.au.
"If we do that again, we won't be near a Shield final. But last year we were good enough at the end when everyone was getting tripped up a little bit."
Although they were unable to claim the state's 10th Shield title as they fell to SA by four wickets in the final, Queensland made considerable strides in Botha's first year at the helm, jumping from sixth to second in the red-ball competition and to a lesser extent in the One-Day Cup by rising from fifth (one win) to fourth (three wins).
And after a little taste of what might be possible, the mindset changes again.
"Last year our team focus was 'hard to beat' … and not become a team that rolls over," Botha said.
"I think this season it's more: 'Can we start the game better and lead the game from the front and win games from the start?'
"We obviously came home really strong (last season) so the guys know they can do it now. And hopefully we can start closer to where we finished."
While the Queensland squad has rarely all been together this winter due to international duty and overseas leagues, the Bulls did have their now annual pre-season camping trip when the full contingent assembled in August.
Men's season previews
NSW | Queensland | South Australia
The recent weeks haven't been kind to Queensland's fast bowling group, with Callum Vidler, Tom Whitney and Tom Balkin all unlikely to see early game time due to injuries.
It means the ever-reliable Michael Neser and Mark Steketee will be required to shoulder the bulk of the early Shield load, although Botha admitted those two will be carefully managed throughout the campaign.
Ben McDermott's exit from the state opened up a contract spot for former NSW allrounder Hayden Kerr and will likewise give greater opportunity to emerging batting talent Lachlan Hearne.
Hearne has been added to Australia A's one-day squad to face India A later this month alongside fellow Queenslander Tom Straker, meaning both will be unavailable for their Shield opener against Tasmania beginning October 4.
2025-26 squad
Xavier Bartlett*, Max Bryant, Hugo Burdon, Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Zanden Jeh, Hayden Kerr, Usman Khawaja*, Marnus Labuschagne*, Angus Lovell, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Gurinder Sandhu, Jack Sinfield, Mark Steketee, Tom Straker, Mitch Swepson, Callum Vidler, Hugh Weibgen, Tom Whitney, Jack Wildermuth. Rookies: Lachy Aitken, Tom Balkin, Jem Ryan
Ins: Tom Balkin, Hayden Kerr (NSW), Zanden Jeh, Tom Straker (upgraded rookie), Tom Whitney (upgraded rookie)
Outs: Liam Guthrie, Bryce Street, Connor Sully, Ben McDermott
* Denotes Cricket Australia contract
Last season
Sheffield Shield: Second
One-Day Cup: Fourth
Possible best XIs
For first one-day game (v Victoria, September 17): Jimmy Peirson (wk), Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne (c), Lachlan Hearne, Jack Clayton, Jack Wildermuth, Hayden Kerr, Michael Neser, Mitch Swepson, Gurinder Sandhu, Tom Straker
Sheffield Shield (at full strength): Usman Khawaja, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne (c), Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jack Wildermuth, Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson
Inside word with coach Johan Botha
Fast bowling brigade
The onus will once again be on the experienced Michael Neser (aged 36), Mark Steketee (31) and Gurinder Sandhu (32) to carry the fast-bowling load until injuries ease and players return from international duties.
The Bulls were able to slowly blood their next crop of quicks last season with Tom Straker (20) playing five Shield games, Tom Whitney (22) playing three and Callum Vidler (19) playing two, but Queensland will be extra cautious in finding the right balance between the young firebrands and the old heads.
Xavier Bartlett (26) is the other key component of the attack, but he now finds himself a regular in the national white-ball squads and therefore his appearances for the Bulls are likely to be infrequent.
"Tom Straker goes to India (for Australia A), (Tom) Whitney, (Tom) Balkin and (Callum) Vidler are now injured, so it's going to be up to those older guys to pick up the slack early and hopefully give us a good start," Botha said. "Then we can rotate those young guys in, which I think we did really well last year, to start giving them opportunities.
"When Xavier (Bartlett) is back in town after the Australia A and Australia matches, we'll get him back in the rotation, Tom Straker after the (Australia A) one-dayers, and then hopefully Whitney and Balcon are available before Christmas. 'Vids' (Vidler) will take a little while … but we know for us in the future, we just need to be patient."
New additions
After he was not offered a contract by NSW, Hayden Kerr (29) was snapped up by Queensland in a like-for-like replacement for Liam Guthrie.
Kerr could see game time in both competitions given the current pace-bowling injury list and offers a point of difference as the only left-arm quick in the squad.
Zanden Jeh (22) had his spot on the Bulls' list automatically added after making his first-class debut for Australia A in June. He joins Mitch Swepson (31) and Jack Sinfeld (22) as the only other front-line spinners in the group.
"Hayden is obviously an experienced campaigner by now," Botha said. "We're trying to get the best out of him. We don't want to bowl him into the ground and until he breaks. We want to manage him, and I thought we did that really well last year with our younger quicks.
"We see him playing a big part in our one-day competition. He's definitely in the Shield framework but once we start playing those Shield and one-day games back-to-back, he becomes pretty important in those follow-up one-day games.
"Zanden is improving at a rate from the first time I really saw him, preparing for the Sri Lanka A series in June, to where he is now. He's bowling beautifully at the moment, and he's a very good fielder (and) he can bat. He opens the batting in grade cricket so that's certainly something that might give him the edge on a few other spinners around Australia.
"I think a successful season will for him will be a debut for the Bulls."
Batting stocks
Despite making last season's Sheffield Shield final, Queensland qualified having scored the third fewest runs across the 10 rounds.
They finished with three batters in the top 15 run-getters, but none in the top eight. Coach Botha is desperate to see some of his top order produce really large individual run tallies.
"We've got the potential to have two or three guys in that 700-runs plus range," he said. "Jimmy (Peirson) was excellent last year which is probably a little bit of a luxury to have your keeper be that good. He was (627 runs), Jack (Clayton) was the top at (687).
"I would love to see Lachie Hearne with a full season to see where he could go with it. We obviously expect a lot from (Matt) Renshaw, Marnus (Labuschagne) will be there early (in the) season and even 'Uzzie' (Khawaja) will be there for the first three Shield games.
"If you get, I reckon, three guys over 700 (runs) you should be very, very close to a Shield final."
Team management also have a tough call on how to best use the batting form of Jack Wildermuth. The allrounder finished last season with consecutive Shield centuries, including one in the final, and has begun this season with some blistering form in Queensland's T20 Max competition.
Team to beat
"It's hard to go past the SACA. They wouldn't have had much change in their squad," Botha said.
"Can they do it again? Can they back it up again? They had a couple of close wins last year in the Shield, which obviously gives you momentum. They were a good enough team to keep it and see it all the way through the summer."