Graham Manou, the wicketkeeper-batsman, has been appointed South Australia's captain for 2008-09. Manou led the side in a stand-in capacity in the closing stages of last season after Nathan Adcock was dropped, and team officials have finally decided he should be in charge of the next campaign.

Two years ago Manou was replaced by Shane Deitz, but he returned in style, leading the team's Pura Cup run-scoring with 596 runs at 37.25. Manou, 29, has the job of lifting the Redbacks as they start a major rebuild following the loss of Matthew Elliott, Jason Gillespie and Darren Lehmann.

"Graham is a consistent performer with the gloves and bat in both the four-day and one-day formats," the coach Mark Sorell said. "As a senior squad member, he is also one of the most experienced players. He is no stranger to captaincy, having relieved during the 2005-06 season and captained the Pura Cup side towards the end of 2007-08. It is this mix of cricket ability and experience that make Graham the obvious choice for captain."

Sorell said Manou's appointment had the backing of his team-mates. "The news was enthusiastically welcomed by all," he said. "He has the team's full support and under our new mentor structure he and the other senior members of our squad have been provided the building blocks for strong leadership."

Manou has played 77 first-class matches since making his debut in 1998-99, scoring 2613 runs at 21.95 with 261 dismissals. He has also appeared in 89 one-day matches, with 1266 runs at 21.82.