Pat Cummins will captain the NSW one-day side in a move that could help his Australian captaincy claims

Australian pace spearhead Pat Cummins has taken a massive step towards the national captaincy after being appointed one-day skipper for NSW.

Cummins, the Australian Test and one-day vice-captain, will lead his state for the first time,in the domestic one-day cup,with former Test keeper Peter Nevill to remain in charge of the NSW Sheffield Shield team.

There has been a push to get national players not involved in leadership at their states in to more senior roles, amid concern over who could replace Test captain Tim Paine.

Cummins, 27, will skipper the Blues in the opening round match of the domestic One Day tournament against Victoria at North Sydney Oval on Monday, February 15, after Cricket NSW identified it as an opportunity for him to develop his leadership and captaincy skills.

“Pat is a highly respected person throughout Australian cricket, and he knows the values NSW cricket and the Blues hold dearly,” NSW coach Phil Jaques said.

“We have no doubt he’ll prove to be a fantastic leader and I know he will also be a great role model for all Blues players.”

“Captaining NSW in these matches is a really good opportunity for Pat to not only demonstrate how good a leader he is, but it’s a chance to show he also has the tactical nous to be a really good captain.”

Cummins will lead a strong squad which features a host of internationals including Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon, along with Sydney Thunder’s dynamic 20-year-old rookie Oliver ‘Ollie’ Davies in the 13-man squad.

But opener David Warner is unavailable as he continues to recover from a recent groin injury, while Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood weren’t named in the state’s One Day squad due to likely heavy workloads in the upcoming Sheffield Shield.
“It’s simply to do with managing our fast bowlers,” Jaques said.

“We have a very hectic first three Sheffield Shield and One Day matches, so we have had to devise individual plans for them because it’s a lot of games in a short period of time.”

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