Stuart Law today announced he was standing down as captain of the XXXX Queensland Bulls in the wake of last week's historic Pura Cup championship.
Law, 33, told a media conference at Queensland Cricket Headquarters that
the decision to relinquish the captaincy was largely due to family
reasons.
"I can't give the time to the game as I have done in the past," he said
today. "I've been thinking long and hard about this for 12 to 18 months
and with my wife Deb and I having a little boy, I think it's time for me
to step aside and let someone else take over"
Law said he intended to continue playing for Queensland and hoped he
could fill a similar role to that played by Allan Border after he
retired from international cricket when he played a further two seasons
with the Bulls in 1994-95 and 1995-96.
"Allan taught me and all of the players an enormous amount in that
period. He was coming off an exceptional international career, and that
is something I won't bring to the team, but I think I have played enough
cricket to help out as a senior player in the squad."
"It's no secret that my form hasn't been the best this season but I
believe that standing down from the captaincy will give me an added
lease of life for the next few seasons and allow me to continue enjoying
cricket without the additional pressures and responsibility of the
captaincy."
"It was not an easy decision but it I know that it is the right decision
to make for the team and Queensland Cricket. The new captain will have
the chance to forge a relationship with the new coach, as I did with
Bennett King, and put his energies into continuing Queensland's run of
success. We are very fortunate to have an exceptional group of senior
players in the squad who bring a lot to the team and like them, I will
be right behind whoever is appointed."
Law met with King on Thursday to broach the subject and elected to make
his decision public today before departing tomorrow morning for England
with wife Debbie and 12-week-old son Max.
Law will commence the first year of a two-year contract with Lancashire
following a long and successful career with Essex.
Law has been in charge of Queensland's five domestic first class
championship teams in the past eight years, including the Bulls'
hat-trick of Pura Cup titles, and two one-day championships.
He has captained Queensland on 69 occasions, with 38 wins, 10 losses and
21 draws, to be Queensland's most successful captain of all-time.
Queensland Cricket Chairman Damien Mullins said the process to appoint a
new captain would not begin until the ACB contacted player list was
finalised.
"Once the national list is completed, the Queensland selectors will
finalise the Bulls squad for 2002-2003 and make a recommendation to the
Board on the captain," he said.
"The Board will discuss the appointment and make whatever
recommendations it feels necessary before the new captain is
announced," Mullins said.
"It would not be appropriate to speculate on who the new captain would
be at this point. Queensland Cricket has been very fortunate to have a
leader such as Stuart to call upon in the past eight or nine seasons and
his exceptional leadership qualities have been clearly demonstrated by
his announcement today to step aside," he said.
While Law was injured during the season, Jimmy Maher and Martin Love
both led the Bulls to victories in the ING Cup and Pura Cup competitions
while Matthew Hayden has also successfully captained the Bulls in the
past.