Siddle in, Holland out amid Victoria changes

Peter Siddle will finish his domestic career with Victoria after signing a two-year contract that takes him back to where it all began.

Siddle, 38, made his debut for Victoria in 2005 and eventually parlayed his form for his home state into a maiden Test cap in 2008.

He continued to represent Victoria throughout a national team career that yielded 67 Tests and 20 ODIs and culminated in international retirement in 2019.

Siddle joined Tasmania for the 2020-21 season and proved a handy pick-up, being named joint winner of the Ricky Ponting Medal as the Tigers' best cricketer over the summer of 2021-22.

Siddle toyed with retiring from domestic cricket following the most recent summer but will now go around again for at least two more years, by which time he will be 40.

"To have a player of Peter Siddle's calibre and experience returning to support a young fast-bowling group is exciting. He'll be a great mentor for all of them," said Cricket Victoria's head of male cricket David Hussey.

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

Adelaide Strikers have not yet confirmed whether they will welcome Siddle back for a seventh summer.

The quick has been in supreme touch for Strikers in recent times, notably being named captain of the BBL's team of the tournament during the 2021-22 series.

Finalising their contract list, Victoria have rewarded breakout batter Ashley Chandrasinghe for his impressive debut summer by upgrading him from his rookie contract. Chandrasinghe burst onto the scene with an unbeat 119 on Sheffield Shield debut in October.

Campbell Kellaway, another promising top-order batter who also played in the Sheffield Shield final, also gets a full contract.

However, they have axed left-arm spinner Jon Holland after 14 summers on the contract list, less than a year after he was close to returning to the Test team in Sri Lanka.

"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."

They have signed batter Tom Rogers, who replaced the injured Glenn Maxwell on the Melbourne Stars' roster in the most recent BBL.

It had previously been announced that Jake Fraser-McGurk was moving to South Australia while fellow young batter MacKenzie Harvey has been de-listed.

Victoria men's contracts 2023-24 Scott Boland (CA), Ashley Chandrasinghe, Xavier Crone, Travis Dean, Sam Elliott, Matt Fotia, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris (CA), Campbell Kellaway, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell (CA), Cameron McClure, Jono Merlo, Todd Murphy (CA), Tom O'Donnell, Fergus O'Neill, Wil Parker, Mitch Perry, Will Pucovski, Tom Rogers, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Will Sutherland.