Keath de-listed from Bushrangers squad

Allrounder Alex Keath is one of three players de-listed from the Victoria squad for the 2015-16 season, with the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers welcoming a trio of young guns in their stead.

Keath, who made headlines five years ago when he elected to pursue cricket over a promising Aussie Rules career, has played seven first-class matches since his debut in December 2010 but has failed to make an impact on the domestic scene.

The 23-year-old showed signs of improvement with scores of 45 and 30 in his lone Bupa Sheffield Shield appearance in the 2014-15 summer but was not offered a contract for the 2015-16 season.

Louis Cameron and Jake Haberfield were the other players to miss out, with Ian Holland, Travis Dean and Sam Harper added to the squad that won last summer’s Shield competition.

Holland, who was on Victoria’s rookie list from 2012 to 2014, has landed a two-year deal after a brilliant Bartercard Premier Cricket season with Ringwood where he became the first person to win both the Jack Ryder Medal, for the competition’s premier player, and the John Scholes Medal, for the best player in the final.

Holland made 724 runs, at an average of 40.22, claimed a series-leading 52 wickets, at 13.72, and became just the second player to make a hundred and take a five-wicket haul in the Premier Cricket final.

“Holland was unlucky to be de-listed a couple of years ago but we told him what he needed to do to get back in the squad and he has done that by improving both his batting and his bowling,” said Victorian chairman of selectors Andrew Lynch.

Dean, 23, has also been added to the main list on a two-year deal after a season in which he was the fourth-highest run-scorer in Bartercard Premier Firsts, with 732 runs, and where he announced himself to state selectors with an unbeaten 187 in the Victorian Toyota Futures League side in February.

He has been consistent for Footscray-Edgewater in the past two seasons, amassing totals of 732 runs in both years, and like Holland, he also has a century in a Premier Cricket final to his name.

“We have been keeping an eye on Dean ever since he played for Victoria in Under-19s and he has really come on in the last couple of years,” Lynch said.

“We think he can be part of our top order in the future.”

Eighteen-year-old Harper is a promising batsman and wicketkeeper, having represented Australia in their recent Under-19 series against England in Perth.

Harper, who has been given a rookie deal, played 12 matches for Melbourne in Premier Cricket this season, with a top score of 89, and also played two matches for Victoria in the Toyota Futures League.

“Harper is someone who we think could play at the next level one day and is a terrific character and hard worker,” Lynch said.

Victoria 2015-16 playing list: Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Dan Christian, Travis Dean, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, Ian Holland, Jon Holland, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, James Muirhead, James Pattinson, Robert Quiney, Jake Reed, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Ryan Sidebottom, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade, Cameron White. Rookies: Ben Ashkenazi, Aaron Ayre, Seb Gotch, Sam Harper, Matt Short, Guy Walker.