Defending champions Victoria Bushrangers reveal their squad for the 2017-18 season

The Commonwealth Bank Victoria Bushrangers have named their 2017-18 squad ahead of the upcoming domestic season. Aussie batsman Peter Handscomb will lead the side. The defending champions have four Cricket Australia centrally contracted players in the squad in the form of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson and the skipper himself.  Sam Harper has been their wicket-keeper after an injury to Matthew Wade ruled him out.

New members in the team

The new members of the squad are teenager Will Pucovskim who in on a full contract, as well as Zak Evans, Mitch Perry and Will Sutherland on rookie contracts. Sutherland is a quick bowler who can contribute with the bat too. Matthew Wade has now returned back to his home side Tasmania while Marcus Stoinis has gone back to Western Australia. Michale Beer, Rob Quiney, Ian Holland and Evan Gulbis were not offered any contract for the 2017-18 season.

“It’s an absolute honour and privilege to be named captain of Victoria, and something I take a lot of pride in,” said Handscomb. “To be able to lead such a strong and successful team that has won three Sheffield Shield titles in a row is an amazing opportunity. “Following in the footsteps of some Victorian greats like Bill Lawry and more recently Cameron White and Matthew Wade who have led Victoria to so much success, is exciting.

Cricket Victoria General Manager of Cricket Shaun Graf said the squad balance was designed to maintain Victoria’s outstanding recent level of success. “Our ongoing focus has been on developing players ready for Australian selection while also being highly competitive at domestic level. The results clearly show we’re achieving this goal with 13 Victorians representing Australia across all formats in the same period we’ve won three straight Sheffield Shield titles.”

Commonwealth Bank Victorian Bushrangers Squad for 2017/18 season:

Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Daniel Christian, Jackson Coleman, Xavier Crone, Travis Dean, Aaron Finch(CAcontract), Sebastian Gotch, Peter Handscomb (C) (CA contract), Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, John Hastings, Jon Holland, Glenn Maxwell (CA contract), James Muirhead, James Pattinson (CA contract), Will Pucovski, Jake Reed, Matthew Short, Peter Siddle, Blake Thomson, Chris Tremain,Guy Walker, Cameron White, Zak Evans (Rookie contract), Sam Grimwade (Rookie contract), Jackson Koop (Rookie contract), Tom O’Donnell (Rookie contract), Mitch Perry (Rookie contract), Will Sutherland (Rookie contract).