Veteran George Bailey has relinquished the Tasmanian Tigers' Sheffield Shield captaincy to Matthew Wade to focus on fixing his ailing batting.
The 36-year-old has struggled with the willow this season, scoring just 45 runs at an average of 5.62 from eight Shield knocks.
On Friday it was announced former Test wicketkeeper Wade, who has previously lead Victoria, would take over as skipper when Tasmania host South Australia in their four-day match starting Tuesday.
Tigers coach Adam Griffith said Bailey approached him about stepping down.
"Mentally he's not in a confident frame of mind. He did actually say to me the other day he gets a bit nervous when he walks to the crease," Griffith said.
"We think it's best that he plays just as a batsman to give himself every chance to focus on his batting and get back into form for the remainder of the season."
Bailey skippered Tasmania to Shield titles in 2010-11 and 2012-13 after taking the reins from Dan Marsh in 2009.
He also captained Australia at ODI and Twenty20 level.
Griffith said Bailey had no plans to change his unique sideways-facing batting stance, a call supported by Tigers' teammate and Test skipper Tim Paine.
"George has gone with an unusual stance but he's gone with it for three or four years and he's scored a hell of a lot of runs doing it," Paine said.
Bailey will remain captain of the Hobart Hurricanes.
Wade has had an outstanding Shield season with the bat, scoring 412 runs at 82.40.
The Tigers, who made the Shield final last season, are fourth on the ladder.
Ben McDermott returns from national duty in a 12-man squad named to play the Redbacks, while allrounder Beau Webster is expected to be out for six to eight weeks with a knee injury.
