Khawaja named Queensland captain

Usman Khawaja has been confirmed as the new captain of Queensland for the 2015-16 season. Khawaja will replace allrounder James Hopes, who stepped down from the captaincy at the end of last summer, and will form a fresh leadership combination for the state with coach Phil Jaques, who was appointed in May.

"Usman has shown his class and ability on numerous occasions on the field since moving to Queensland a few seasons ago, but he has also demonstrated his maturity and vision to many of us away from the playing arena," Queensland Cricket chairman Jim Holding said. "He is an impressive thinker about the game and we feel that he commands the respect of the group through his words and deeds."

Khawaja, now 28, moved to Queensland from New South Wales during the 2012 off-season, and has played nine Tests and three ODIs for Australia. He is currently captaining Australia A on their tour of India. He said he was happy that his predecessor, Hopes, would stay on at Queensland.

"Hopesy has been a legend for Queensland and I'm pleased he is playing on," Khawaja said. "One of the things I will be looking forward to this summer is walking out with him when he plays his 100th game for the Bulls this season as I know how much he has devoted to the game here.

"I'm greatly honoured to be appointed Queensland captain, as I know how much the Bulls mean to the fans around the state. I will be out to do my best to continue to work with the rest of the players to make us successful. We have a lot of guys in the squad who are poised to make a big impact in Australian cricket and one of our collective goals will be to work hard to ensure we are ready when opportunities arise."