Maddinson named new Stars captain

Melbourne Stars have unveiled star recruit Nic Maddinson as their new skipper in the absence of regular captain Glenn Maxwell.

With Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb and Adam Zampa to miss the Stars’ next three matches due to Australia’s Gillette ODI Series against India, Maddinson has been named as stand-in skipper, starting with their match against Perth Scorchers on Wednesday night.

Maddinson's captaincy debut will also be his Stars debut, after he missed their opening five matches due to a broken arm.

"I've been involved in some of the leadership stuff ... so I feel like the transition should be pretty smooth," he said.

"I've (captained) half a dozen Sheffield Shield games a couple of years ago and captained the Sixers one year as well."

Young leg-spinner Tom O’Connell has also been selected for his first taste of BBL cricket, added to the Stars squad as a replacement player in Zampa’s absence.

The Stars have been the hardest hit by last Friday’s ODI squad announcement; they would have expected Maxwell, Stoinis and Zampa to be called up, but the selection of Handscomb for his first ODI series since 2017 has left them without a secondary captaincy option and a key middle-order batter.

"Obviously it hurts missing those guys for the week or so that they're out, but I feel like the guys coming in have played a bit of Big Bash and have had a taste of what it's like at this level," Maddinson said.

"Ben Dunk is playing nicely at the moment, (Dwayne) Bravo hasn't had much of chance with the bat so far. I feel like the squad that we've got matches up pretty well against anyone." 

Nepalese leggie Sandeep Lamichhane has already departed as planned and has been replaced by England quick Liam Plunkett. 

Stars v Scorchers, Wed Jan 9, 7.15pm AEDT

Stars: Michael Beer, Jackson Bird, Scott Boland, Liam Bowe, Dwayne Bravo, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Evan Gulbis, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson (c), Jonathan Merlo, Tom O'Connell, Liam Plunkett

Scorchers: Ashton Turner (c), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Will Bosisto, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Hardie, Matt Kelly, Michael Klinger, Usman Qadir, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman, David Willey.