2019-20 Victorian Men’s contract list confirmed

In total, 31 players make up the squad that includes five Cricket Australia contracted players (Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Glenn Maxwell and James Pattinson) and six rookies (Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Jonathan Merlo, Ed Newman, Mitchell Perry and Patrick Rowe).

Nic Maddinson and Andrew Fekete have been offered full contracts, as has Essendon batsman Aaron Ayre who will return to the squad for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Fast bowler Zak Evans has been upgraded to a full contract from his rookie status in 2018-19.

Ayre had an excellent season in Premier Cricket for Essendon, amassing 1057 runs at an average of 58.7.

On the rookie list, Sam Elliott – son of former Victorian great Matthew Elliott – is a right-arm quick and spent time in the nets with the Sheffield Shield squad late last season.

He is joined among the rookies by right-handed batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk who made his Toyota Futures League debut last November.

Victoria enters the new domestic season as defending champions of both the JLT One-Day Cup and JLT Sheffield Shield.

Cricket Victoria General Manager – Cricket Shaun Graf said the squad was a good blend of emerging youth and experience.

“Our results last season were outstanding and we saw the year as a real step forward in the evolution of the squad. We gave some younger guys opportunities, which they took, and we’ll be looking to build on that this season,” Graf said.

“Nic Maddinson was one of the great stories from last season as was the performance of Andrew Fekete at key times and they both bring great experience to the list. We’re also looking forward to watching the next stage of development in our younger players like Will Sutherland, Mackenzie Harvey and Tom O’Connell, who alongside Will Pucovski are developing strongly.”

“Overall, we are very well placed to meet the demands of the many state and national commitments that will arise over the season,” Graf said.

Wes Agar, Sam Grimwade and Cameron White were not offered contracts for next season.

Victorian Men’s 2019-20 squad
Name – Premier Club
Aaron Ayre – Essendon
Scott Boland – Frankston Peninsula
Jackson Coleman – Melbourne
Xavier Crone – Carlton
Travis Dean – Footscray
Zak Evans – Ringwood
Andrew Fekete – Camberwell
Aaron Finch* – Geelong
Sebastian Gotch – Melbourne
Peter Handscomb (C)* – St Kilda
Sam Harper – Melbourne
Marcus Harris* – St Kilda
Mackenzie Harvey – Carlton
Jon Holland – Frankston Peninsula
Nic Maddinson – St Kilda
Glenn Maxwell* – Fitzroy Doncaster
Tom O’Connell – Monash Tigers
James Pattinson* – Dandenong
Will Pucovski – Melbourne
Jake Reed – Geelong
Matthew Short – Northcote
Peter Siddle – Dandenong
Will Sutherland – Prahran
Chris Tremain – Melbourne
Eamonn Vines – Geelong
Sam Elliott (Rookie Contract) – Fitzroy Doncaster
Jake Fraser-McGurk (Rookie Contract) – Monash Tigers
Jonathan Merlo (Rookie Contract) – St Kilda
Ed Newman (Rookie Contract) – Dandenong
Mitchell Perry (Rookie contract) – Monash Tigers
Patrick Rowe (Rookie contract) – St Kilda