The former Test opener takes his first major head coach role with Victoria, the state with which he won two Sheffield Shield titles
Chris Rogers named Victoria men's head coach
Former Test opener Chris Rogers has officially returned to Victorian cricket, signing a two-year deal as coach of the state's men's team.
Rogers fills the gap left by his former teammate Andrew McDonald, who left his post partway through last season to take up an assistant role with the senior Australian side.
Lachlan Stevens, who filled in as interim coach for the remainder of last season, has since been named coach of Victoria's women's team.
Rogers beat out a hot field of contenders, with former Victoria stars Brad Hodge, Michael Klinger and Cameron White all linked to the role in media reports during the winter.
The 42-year-old was chosen by a panel that included Victoria's two captains, Peter Handscomb and Meg Lanning, as well as CEO Andrew Ingleton, General Manager Shaun Graf and current Sydney Sixers coach Greg Shipperd.
Rogers scored more than 25,000 runs in a decorated first-class career, including more than 2000 at Test level, and won two Sheffield Shield titles in his time with the Vics.
He enjoyed seven fruitful seasons at Victoria after moving from Western Australia, while he also had great success as an opener in English county cricket.
He retired from playing in 2016, scoring a century in each innings of his last game, for Somerset against Nottinghamshire.
He's since moved into coaching roles at Gloucestershire and Somerset, while he also led Australia's Under-19 side at the World Cup earlier this year.
"I'm really excited about the job and I'd like to thank Cricket Victoria for the opportunity. It feels a bit like I've come full circle in playing for Victoria for seven years and now coming back into the fold as the senior coach," Rogers said.
"I'm looking forward to working with this talented squad of players and coaches. I've been lucky enough to work with many of the Victorian players in recent years and I look forward to working with them to achieve individual and team success."
News of Rogers' appointment comes a week after former Test quick Jason Gillespie was named the new coach of South Australia.
Victoria finished second in a truncated Shield season last summer and second last in the Marsh One-Day Cup.
The Vics have lost plenty of pace-bowling depth in the off-season, with Peter Siddle (Tasmania), Chris Tremain (NSW), Andrew Fekete (retired) and Jackson Coleman (delisted) all departing.
Young leg-spinner Wil Parker, who impressed in his debut last season, has turned down a chance to enter the Australian Football League player draft, signing a two-year deal to stay in cricket.
The domestic fixture for the upcoming season has yet to be released, with details of how the competitions will be run given the COVID-19 pandemic still being decided.