Manou wants captaincy - and fast

Graham Manou hopes South Australia will appoint their captain soon to establish the group ahead of the new season. He would love the job and believes a fast appointment would stabilise a unit already missing the retired players Darren Lehmann, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Elliott and fast bowler Ryan Harris, who has gone to Queensland.

"If they offer it to me I would be glad to take it on," Manou told the Adelaide Advertiser. "It would be nice to have the role at the start of the season."

There's a good chance both of his wishes will be granted. Coach Mark Sorell said last week Manou was the "stand-out" candidate having filled in as leader for the remainder of last season after Nathan Adcock was axed. Sorell is also keen to seal the deal quickly to avoid a repetition of the pre-season uncertainty last year in appointing the captain late, which set the tone for a troubled campaign.

Manou, who also took over when Darren Lehmann was playing for Australia in 2004-05, would relish having the captaincy full-time rather than being a fill-in. "Having a whole season to stamp your mark would sit a lot easier with me," said Manou. "Given what has happened over the past 12 months the sooner we can settle as a group and start to focus where we think we should be going, that will be great."

In the meantime, Manou will play for Darwin grade side PINTS for the next two months where he will hope to build on a successful season with South Australia, where he made 596 Pura Cup runs at 37.25.

When he returns his state could have recruited a few more players alongside Aaron O'Brien, Tom Cooper and Michael Klinger. South Australia have already missed out on opener Chris Rogers, the Queensland allrounder James Hopes and New South Wales targets Greg Mail and Grant Lambert. But they have vowed to carry on the hunt.