Tasmania sign Blizzard and van der Gugten

The batsman Aiden Blizzard has moved to his third state, Tasmania, in an effort to earn more chances in first-class and one-day cricket. Blizzard, 28, and the former New South Wales fast bowler Timm van der Gugten have been signed for next summer by the Tigers, who like all states must finalise their contract lists by the end of this week.

Blizzard began his career in Victoria, where he was viewed largely as a Twenty20 specialist, and he moved to South Australia in 2010, hoping to find more opportunities in the longer formats. He grabbed his chances in his first year with the Redbacks, scoring 659 first-class runs at 34.68, but was given only three Sheffield Shield games last summer and was overlooked completely in the Ryobi Cup.

He will be joined at Tasmania by van der Gugten, 21, who played his first games for New South Wales last season and has also played ODIs and Twenty20s for the Netherlands, thanks to his Dutch passport. The Tigers have gradually announced their contracted players over the past week and will confirm their remaining players on Friday.

Western Australia and Queensland have already named their complete contract lists for next season, but Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales have kept the majority of their announcements for the end of the week.