Maddinson and Shaw named New South Wales captains

Jack Edwards has stepped back from the role as the state looks to the start of Brad Haddin's first season in charge

Nic Maddinson will captain New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield this season and Lachlan Shaw has been named to lead the One-Day Cup side after allrounder Jack Edwards stepped back from the roles.

Maddinson, 34, didn't feature for NSW last season after undergoing treatment for testicular cancer earlier in the year but did appear five times for Sydney Thunder as well as in a 2nd XI match. He is now back to full health and will take up his second stint captaining NSW after holding the job in 2015-16.RelatedMaddinson reveals 'daunting' battle with testicular cancer

Maddinson has 'different attitude' since beating cancer

Siddle joins New South Wales as bowling coach

"Captaining the NSW Blues is a huge privilege, and I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunity to lead the Sheffield Shield team this season," Maddinson said. "Being entrusted with the New South Wales captaincy is something I don't take for granted, and I look forward to working alongside the playing group and coaching staff throughout the summer."

Shaw has been handed the job for the One-Day Cup, where NSW are defending champions, with just 14 List A games to his name as part of new coach Brad Haddin's push to develop emerging leaders. A wicketkeeper by trade, Shaw is renowned as a brilliant fielder.

"I'm so excited to be leading the Blues' one-day team this season, and I'm immensely grateful for the opportunity," Shaw said. "We have a seriously talented playing group at the Blues, and I'm confident we have the makings of a team that can push for titles."Lachlan Shaw has been handed the one-day leadership•Getty Images

Edwards, meanwhile, has opted not to continue in the captaincy "to focus on his performance and workload management." He was named One-Day Cup captain in 2024 before taking on the Shield role the following season when Moises Henriques was absent.

Last season Edwards captained in five Shield matches while Nathan Lyon and Steven Smith did one apiece before Kurtis Patterson filled in for the latter part of the campaign. Patterson was also captain for the One-Day Cup final victory over Tasmania. NSW have not won the Shield since the Covid-interrupted 2019-2020 season.

Edwards is part of the Australia A squad for the four-day matches in India later this month so will miss the early stages of the domestic season while Shaw is part of the 50-over leg of the trip which means he will likely miss the one-day game against Tasmania on October 13.

"As a coach you want your players to be exposed as much as you possibly can to Australian squads," Haddin told Cricinfo. "That as a coach is a really pleasing thing because what they do is they go away, they learn from the elite of environments and they come back better players."

The captaincy changes build on a new-look for NSW this season under Haddin who was brought in as Greg Shipperd's replacement. He has built a fresh group of assistant coaches including most recently Peter Siddle and Johan Botha.

"We've got a really hungry group that want to make a difference at New South Wales," Haddin said. "They want to win titles, they care deeply about playing for New South Wales. We've got a lot of rebuilding to do, we've got some standards that we need to stick to and set, but all the players have been really responsive and really hungry to get some results for New South Wales."