Cricket Tasmania has confirmed it is in talks with Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, who is expected to break his domestic contract with Victoria.
The 29-year-old left the island state for the Bushrangers a decade ago to move out of the shadow of fellow gloveman Tim Paine and had since proven his value with Test and national limited-overs selection.
"I can confirm that we have had discussions with Australian player Matthew Wade about his desire to come back to his home state of Tasmania and play cricket," Cricket Tasmania boss Andrew Dykes said on Wednesday.
"Matt is very keen to re-locate back to Tasmania for family reasons so we will continue ongoing discussions with him in the coming months."
Wade told News Corp Australia that the birth of his daughter almost a year ago had prompted the move.
"Everyone I've spoken to has been really good - they've understood the situation, they understand how much I'm away and the opportunity to get home and have family to give us a bit of help is obviously really attractive," he said.
With a year to run on his Bushrangers contract, news of Wade's move comes as he heads to New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series ahead of flying to India for February's Test series.
"Due to the ongoing Australian Cricketers' Association and Cricket Australia memorandum of understanding negotiations, we are unable to progress any further with state contract negotiations," Dykes said.
Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia are aware of Wade's intentions.
"We're naturally disappointed at the prospect of losing our Victorian Bushrangers captain after back-to-back (Sheffield) Shield victories," Cricket Victoria CEO Tony Dodemaide said, indicating a willingness to find a good outcome for all parties.
Former Victorian batsman David Hussey lamented Wade's impending move.
"It's a huge loss," he told Melbourne's SEN radio.
"He's the captain and he's the leader of the state and he's done a phenomenal job with back-to-back Shield champion campaigns which is an amazing effort."
