Floros switch to Bulls leads charge to final

JASON Floros suffered a lastball defeat to Queensland a few months ago but will be on the side of the guys in Maroon in today’s Matador Cup grand final.

Floros hails from Canberra and returned there in the offseason to captain an ACT indoor cricket side containing his three younger brothers in the national indoor titles.

The ACT side narrowly went down to Queensland in the final.

But state loyalties have now changed and the off-spinning allrounder is a key part of the Queensland Bulls side aiming to beat the NSW Blues in today’s Matador Cup one-day domestic decider at North Sydney Oval.

Floros, 25, was more surprised than anyone when Bulls coach Phil Jaques pulled him aside before the tournament and asked him to captain the Bulls in the absence of Usman Khawaja and Chris Lynn.

Khawaja has now returned from South Africa to reclaim the captaincy of the Bulls but Floros thrived with the captaincy opportunity as the Bulls embarked on the winning run that pitched them into today’s final.

That’s not bad for a cricketer who was not even selected in the Bulls squad which played in last year’s one-day competition.

“I had an absolute ball (captaining Queensland),” Floros said.

“Basically I was just in charge of making decisions with my mates, which is exactly how I looked at it.

“The captaincy definitely wasn’t expected but it came about as the result of a few factors, including some injuries to other guys.

“I had done a bit of grade cricket and state second XI captaincy, but this was a new experience entirely.”

Floros, a former Australian under-19 player who was en- couraged to move to Brisbane by Greg Chappell, has averaged 51 with the bat in this Matador Cup tournament and has taken a few key wickets with his off-breaks.

He reckons playing indoor cricket in the off-season helped him to spring out of the blocks for the Bulls in the Matador Cup.

“I enjoyed being in the same indoor team as my three little brothers and my Dad was heavily involved as well as he owns an indoor cricket centre in Canberra,” Floros said.

“It was all about keeping myself in and around the game of cricket in the off-season.

“I found when I turned up for pre-season with the Bulls, I already felt pretty sharp because of the indoor cricket I’d been playing.”

Queensland have been forced into one change for the final with raw-boned fast bowler Mark Steketee out with a side injury suffered during their win over Victoria.

Fast bowler Peter George, who played two matches earlier in the tournament, comes back into the 14-man squad with the starting 11 confirmed at the toss.

Ben Cutting, Queensland’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 10 dismissals, will play his 50th one day match for the Bulls.