Tasmania have still managed to boost their batting stocks despite Jake Weatherald's return to South Australia
Recruits hit the ground running as Tassie poised to rise again
Tasmania have been as close as they could get to silverware over the past two summers after playing off in last season's one-day final and finishing runners-up in the Sheffield Shield 12 months earlier.
Buoyed by the depth they've been able to build, coach Jeff Vaughan believes his group has what it takes to rise again in 2026-27.
"We've just got to keep putting ourselves in a position where we are challenging for finals," Vaughan told cricket.com.au.
"That's what every team sets out to do at the start of the season. We certainly can't win anything in September or October, but you want to be playing some good cricket and banking some wins."
Men's season previews
While the now former Test opener Jake Weatherald returned to South Australia, Tasmania still managed to boost their batting stocks during the off-season. Teague Wyllie has found a new home on the Apple Isle after losing his WA contract and experienced batter Ben McDermott is back on the list after returning to Hobart with his young family last year.
Kieran Elliott has headed west in search of new opportunities, with Tassie awarding fast bowler Caelan Maladay with his maiden state contract after strong performances in Premier cricket.
Towering quick Marcus Bean has also been named in their first one-day squad of the season and the uncapped 210cm left-armer could be in line for more opportunities this season particularly if Billy Stanlake continues to tour with the national team.
Tasmania squad for opening match v Western Australia: Jordan Silk (c), Marcus Bean, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jake Doran, Caleb Jewell, Matt Kuhnemann, Raf MacMillan, Riley Meredith, Aidan O'Connor, Mitch Owen, Will Prestwidge, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Teague Wyllie
"With the guys who are going to be away with Australia (Nathan Ellis, Stanlake, Matthew Kuhnemann, Beau Webster) and Australia A (Nikhil Chaudhary, Mitch Owen), it's going to be an exciting time for some others who are going to get opportunities," Vaughan said.
"We've still got experienced players in the captain Jordan Silk, Tim Ward, Jake Doran, Gabe Bell who was our standout bowler last season, and Ben McDermott coming back into the group … so while we love sending players off to play for Australia, we feel as though we've got reasonable depth as well."
2026-27 squad
Head coach: Jeff Vaughan
Squad: Marcus Bean, Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Iain Carlisle, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis*, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Matthew Kuhnemann*, Raf MacMillan, Caelan Maladay, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Mitch Owen, Will Prestwidge, Nivethan Radhakrishnan, Jordan Silk, Billy Stanlake, Tim Ward, Beau Webster*, Teague Wyllie
Rookies: Kasey Barton, Zac Curtain, Aidan O’Connor, Nitesh Samuel, William Taylor
Ins: Teague Wyllie (WA), Caelan Maladay, Nikhil Chaudhary, Ben McDermott, Raf MacMillan (upgraded rookie), Kasey Barton, Nitesh Samuel, William Taylor
Outs: Jake Weatherald (SA), Kieran Elliott (WA), Mac Wright, Charlie Wakim, Nick Davis
* Denotes Cricket Australia contract
Last season
Sheffield Shield: Fourth
One-Day Cup: Runners-up
Possible XIs
For first one-day game (v WA, September 20): Mitch Owen, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jordan Silk (c), Teague Wyllie, Jake Doran (wk), Aidan O'Connor, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Marcus Bean
Sheffield Shield (at full strength): Caleb Jewell, Tim Ward, Ben McDermott, Jordan Silk (c), Beau Webster, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jake Doran (wk), Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Jackson Bird, Gabe Bell
Players in representative squads
Australian ODI (Sep 15-30): Nathan Ellis, Billy Stanlake
Australian Test (Oct 9-31): Matthew Kuhnemann, Beau Webster
Australia A one-day (Oct 6-11): Nikhil Chaudhary, Mitch Owen
Inside word with head coach Jeff Vaughan
Recruit of the season?
Wyllie has hit the ground running since landing in Hobart, scoring a century (130) for the Cricket Australia XI against Bangladesh before following it up with another against South Australia in a red-ball preseason game in Darwin.
After having his Western Australia contract offer withdrawn earlier this year and subsequently missing a spot on their list, the former Australia U19 representative arrives at Tassie on one-year deal with plenty to play for. Still only 22 years old, Wyllie – already a dual Sheffield Shield winner – had struggled to play regularly for WA in either format across the past few seasons.
However, last season the right-hander made his One-Day Cup debut and batted twice, scoring 56 and 42no in two promising performances, with a top-order spot in Tasmania's Sheffield Shield and 50-over side now there for the taking.
"We feel very fortunate that he chose to continue his journey with Tasmania and we've been wrapped with him around the group," Vaughan said.
"He's got a great understanding of his own game and what's going to give him a chance for success, and he's already had a bit of success at domestic level.
"He's done a lot of top order batting over his career, and we certainly think he could open the batting for us. He spent a fair bit of time in the No.4 position for us in Darwin as well across T20 and red-ball cricket … given his ability to sweep, ramp and lap as well as his power game, we feel as though he could bat anywhere in the top six (in the four- and one-day formats).
"The hundred for the CA XI and then a really nice hundred in the four-day game against South Australia, he's set himself up for the start of the domestic season and hopefully it's a really big one for him."
Come in, spinner
With Kuhnemann in South Africa with the Test squad through October and then likely to be a big part of Australia's Border-Gavaskar Trophy quest in India in the second half of the summer, Tasmania will be looking to the younger spinners to step up.
Chaudhary, a leg-spinning allrounder, could see more opportunities after earning a spot on the Tigers' list with strong performances in all three formats last season. But 21-year-old off-spinner Raf MacMillan, a member of Australia's U19 World Cup winning team in 2024, will also get his chance, Vaughan said.
MacMillan has played two Shield matches and made six One-Day Cup appearances since joining Tassie in 2024 but missed a chunk of last summer with a hamstring injury.
"He spent time in the UK through the winter, and he's been one of the standout white-ball finger-spin bowlers in the Darwin (Top End T20) tournament over the past three years," Vaughan said. "We're really pleased with his development, so we certainly think he's ready to not only step into 'Kuhnney's' role, but he could force his way into the team and own a position himself.
"We're really pleased with the way he bowled in the four-day game against South Australia up in Darwin at Marrara Oval. He made a few little tweaks at the back end of last season that he worked on in (club cricket) in the UK and got good feedback on during the MRF Academy tour (to Chennai in August)."
Filling the Weatherald void
"There's options, aren't there," said Vaughan.
Caleb Jewell, Ward, Nivethan Radhakrishnan and Wyllie have all opened in the Shield in the past, while Mitch Owen was floated as a potential candidate last season when Weatherald went up to the Test side.
Jewell finished the 2025-26 campaign as Weatherald's opening partner and performed the role for Derbyshire during the county season where he averaged 22.
Ward especially had a fruitful 2025-26 Shield season, scoring 583 runs at 30.68 but that was exclusively from the No.3 position.
Vaughan said they were fortunate to have "players that are quite flexible. Depending on the make-up of the team, the opposition and the conditions, it's great to play around with different options … to build a team around."