Lynn to lead young Bulls at JLT Cup

T20 superstar Chris Lynn will captain a Queensland squad with five rookies in this year's JLT One-Day Cup, with the Bulls set to launch the tournament against Victoria in Townsville on Sunday.

With five players unavailable due to Test selection, and first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman Jimmy Peirson out with a hamstring injury, the men in maroon will be leaning on some young and inexperienced talent – as well as the power-hitting of Lynn – if they're to improve on their fifth-place finish in 2017.

The 14-man squad named for the first two matches contains five potential debutants, with pacemen Xavier Bartlett and Jack Prestwidge, batsmen Max Bryant and Sam Truloff and wicketkeeper Lachlan Pfeffer all in the frame to play their first limited-overs games for Queensland.

Australia ODI and T20 batsman Lynn will skipper the side in his first 50-over match for his state since 2013, with the top-order batsman having had his career regularly blighted by a succession of shoulder injuries.

"Everyone asks what my goals are – I don't say 'runs', I say, 'try and play 12 months of the year without getting injured," Lynn said in Brisbane today.

"My goal is to stay fit and play every game. It's been a long last few months since I popped my right shoulder out.

"I went to the IPL and was playing probably at only 60 per cent over there, but then in the Caribbean, I didn't play the best cricket but my body felt really good, so I can come into this tournament with good preparation and the confidence of (being able to) get through the whole tournament."

Lynn will captain his state for the first time in the absence of regular skippers Usman Khawaja and Peirson, and insisted his style of leadership will be taken from the playbook of his 'Bash Brother' and New Zealand legend Brendon McCullum.

"It's been five years since I've put on the maroon one-day clothes so it's very exciting for me," he said. "I was named to be captain probably four years ago so to get that opportunity now is something I've been waiting for for a long time.

"We've got a young group, especially with the guys away with the Test team, so it's a good opportunity to stand up off the field, and lead the guys on the field with bat in hand as well.

"Having played under Brendon McCullum the last couple of years, I've been fairly tight with him and I think an aggressive brand of cricket is the way forward.

"That's what I'm going to try and implement with the younger guys."

Lynn will likely have some willing disciples in that regard, with explosive quick Billy Stanlake set for his first JLT Cup action since 2015-16, and 19-year-old opener Max Bryant considered one of the most promising young batsmen in Queensland.

"He's an exciting young player," Lynn said. "He's obviously still very raw but the way he can grab momentum up the top of the order is huge in one-day cricket.

"We've got him on the books for the Brisbane Heat as well, so that's very exciting.

"We're going to see over the next three or four weeks what he can do, and hopefully I can build some partnerships and a strong relationship with him, because I think moving forward he's going to be a big player for Queensland Cricket."

Queensland travel to Townsville on Friday and will be involved in several community cricket events during their visits to the North Queensland city.

Sunday's match is one of three JLT One-Day Cup games that will be hosted in Townsville in the next week thanks to the support of the Townsville City Council.

Victoria play Tasmania next Wednesday before the Bulls take on Tasmania on September 22.

Queensland Bulls JLT One Day Cup Squad (round one and two): Chris Lynn (c), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Luke Feldman, Sam Heazlett, Charlie Hemphrey, Lachlan Pfeffer, Jack Prestwidge, Billy Stanlake, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Sam Truloff, Jack Wildermuth.