Peter Siddle signs up with Tasmania after long Victorian stint

Peter Siddle has signed a two-year contract with Tasmania, ending his long decorated career with Victoria. The 35-year-old retired from international cricket in December last year and is making a late career switch to "play good cricket" and "develop coaching skills further."

Siddle, who finished fourth on the overall wickets list in the last Sheffield Shield season, will be a great addition to Tasmania's dressing room after George Bailey retired earlier this year to join the national selection panel.

"My greatest goal is to come to Tasmania and play good cricket, while hopefully winning a few games which will be my biggest aim," Siddle told Cricket Tasmania. "There's a few players down here that I've played a lot of cricket with, and there's a bunch of younger players that I'm looking forward to playing alongside.

"It's a great opportunity for me while I'm still playing to work alongside Griff," he said. "I want to develop my coaching skills further and really help some of the younger boys who have already shown a great amount of talent."

Siddle won two Sheffield Shield titles, a One-Day title and a T20 Big Bash title with Victoria and was also named the club's One-Day Player of the Season in 2017-18.

"Peter has always been the ultimate professional in the way he prepares for playing at the highest level. That professionalism and dedication has delivered an immense contribution to Victorian cricket over a 15 year period," Cricket Victoria's General Manager of Cricket Shaun Graf said. "When we first saw him in Gippsland coming through the ranks, we knew we had some talent on our hands. His heart and soul approach has inspired teammates and he's mentored many young players throughout Victoria. He's never shied away from hard work and is someone his teammates just love playing alongside.

"Peter has been a key figure in a very successful era for Victorian cricket and while we're sad to see him leave for Tasmania, he leaves with our very best wishes. We know his heart will always be navy blue."

In another major development, all-rounder James Faulkner was left out of Tasmania's' contract list. Alex Bevilaqua, Gurinder Sandhu, Sean Willis and Simon Milenko also didn't get a state contract from the club.