Siddle returns as Victoria confirm men's contracts

Victoria have confirmed the return of one of their most decorated bowlers, with former Test paceman Peter Siddle signing a two-year deal to return to his home state.

The 38-year-old is one of eight new signings for Victoria in 2023-24 after spending the past three seasons with Tasmania following a shock defection in 2020.

He is expected to play a key development role in nurturing the Vics' next generation of fast bowlers, a number of whom have been elevated to full contracts after helping the state reach a second straight Marsh Sheffield Shield final.

Cricket Victoria today announced its men's squad for the 2023-24 season with Fergus O’Neill and Sam Elliott earning upgrades, along with emerging batters Ashley Chandrasinghe and Campbell Kellaway.

O'Neill, Chandrasinghe and Kellaway all played in Victoria's Shield final loss to Western Australia, while Elliott – the son of state great Matthew – impressed in his two matches prior to the Big Bash.

Matt Fotia and Tom O'Donnell – the son of Test and ODI allrounder Simon – will also be part of that pace battery having earned full contracts on the back of standout Premier Cricket performances.

Fotia, 28, earns his first professional deal after snaring 49 wickets in 17 Premier Cricket matches for Ringwood last season, while O'Donnell, 26, made his debut for Victoria in the Marsh One-Day Cup last summer. He previously spent two years as a rookie from 2016-18.

Melbourne Stars opening batter Tom Rogers – who also made his Victoria debut in the final match of the Marsh One-Day Cup season against South Australia has also earned his first state deal having scored more than 1500 runs for Ringwood in the past two Premier Cricket seasons.

"To have a player of Peter Siddle's calibre and experience returning to support a young fast bowling group is exciting (and) he'll be a great mentor for all of them," said David Hussey, Cricket Victoria's Head of Male Cricket.

"Peter is a very passionate Victorian and it's fantastic that he's able to finish his career at home.

"It's really pleasing to recognise some of Premier Cricket's best performers over the past couple of seasons with contracts and upgrade four of our rookies from last year.

"We're focussed on continuous improvement and it's great to see those younger players starting to impact our match results positively."

As reported by cricket.com.au yesterday, former Test spinner Jon Holland has not been offered a new contract for next season, effectively ending the 35-year-old’s 16-year career at the top level.

Holland, who played four Tests across tours of Sri Lanka in 2016 and the UAE in 2018 and was part of the Australian squad as recently as last year in Sri Lanka, finishes as Victoria's ninth highest first-class wicket-taker of all time with 244.

Australian white-ball champion Aaron Finch also drops off the contract list after retiring from state and international cricket, while Jake Fraser-McGurk has moved to South Australia and Brody Couch, Zak Evans, Mackenzie Harvey and Tom O’Connell were also not offered contracts.

"In any contracting process there are always difficult decisions and I’d like to thank all the players who are departing our program for their commitment to Victorian cricket," Hussey said.

"It would be remiss of me to not make a special mention of Jon Holland and Aaron Finch who have both made enormous contributions to our program, to our squads and to the success Victoria has enjoyed throughout their very successful careers.

"They both hold a special place in this era of Victorian cricket."

Opening batter Dylan Brasher, spinner Douglas Warren and Australia Under-19 wicketkeeper-batter Liam Blackford have also earned rookie contracts.

The squad is also complemented by four Cricket Australia contracted players – Scott Boland, Marcus Harris, Glenn Maxwell and Todd Murphy.

Victoria 2023-24 men's squad: Scott Boland*, Ashley Chandrasinghe, Xavier Crone, Travis Dean, Sam Elliott, Matt Fotia, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris*, Campbell Kellaway, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell*, Cameron McClure, Jono Merlo, Todd Murphy*, Tom O'Donnell, Fergus O'Neill, Wil Parker, Mitch Perry, Will Pucovski, Tom Rogers, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Will Sutherland. Rookies: Liam Blackford, Dylan Brasher, Douglas Warren

* Cricket Australia contract

Ins: Peter Siddle, Matt Fotia, Tom O'Donnell, Tom Rogers, Liam Blackford, Dylan Brasher, Douglas Warren. Outs: Aaron Finch (retired), Jake Fraser-McGurk (South Australia), Brody Couch, Zak Evans, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Tom O'Connell