In his early days, Jon Holland was rated so highly that within a year of his state debut he was in Australia's ODI squad for the 2009 tour of India. He did not play a match on that trip but it seemed a sign that it would only be a matter of time. In fact, it would not be until 2016 that he would again tour with Australia, this time called into the Test squad in Sri Lanka as an injury replacement for Steve O'Keefe. A left-arm orthodox spinner, Holland is naturally attacking bowler with subtle changes of pace and the ability to gain considerable turn. However, his opportunities in Victoria weren't always guaranteed, with legspinner Fawad Ahmed generally preferred at times as the frontline spin option. At the time of his Test call-up, Holland had played no more than three Shield matches per season for the previous four summers. However, when his opportunities did arrive he had taken them: 13 wickets at 23.69 in 2014-15 and 14 at 20.92 in 2015-16. Notably, he stepped up with eight wickets for the match in the Shield final in March 2016 to help Victoria win the title in Adelaide. He took 50 wickets in the 2016-17 season when Victoria claimed their third straight title. Despite that haul, O'Keefe was preferred as Nathan Lyon's spin partner in India and Bangladesh in 2017. O'Keefe's off-field indiscretions opened the door again in 2018. Holland went on the ill-fated tour of South Africa and then played two more Tests in the UAE as Lyon's partner against Pakistan but took just four wickets for series. He played a key part in Victoria's 2018-19 Shield triumph and was selected for the Australia A tour of the UK in 2019.
ESPNcricinfo staff