Sydney-born paceman eager to win an elusive Sheffield Shield title with the state that recruited him back in 2011
Jackson Bird has revealed he was on the verge of retiring from first-class cricket until Tasmania came knocking with an opportunity to play into his 15th domestic season.
Tasmania announced Thursday morning the return of Bird – their all-time leading bowler in the Sheffield Shield (350 wickets at 21.99 in 78 matches) – with the 38-year-old signing a one-year deal for 2025-26 after spending the past two seasons with NSW.
Born in Sydney, Bird made the switch to his native state ahead of the 2023-24 season when he was unable to agree to terms with Tasmania for a two-year contract extension.
In his 15 games for the Blues across those two seasons, the right-armer continued to defy his age with 58 wickets, also reaching several milestones along the way, including his 500th first-class dismissal in December before becoming just the fifth bowler in Sheffield Shield history to take 400 wickets in February.
But Bird, whose partner Scarlett was born and raised in Hobart, was grateful he could take his young family back to the Apple Isle, where he spent 12 seasons with the Tigers after being recruited as a 24-year-old in 2011.
"My family probably didn't settle as well as what we would have liked into Sydney lifestyle," said Bird.
"We just decided that it'd be better for us to move back down here and my eldest (Max) has started school, so we figured the best time to move them back would be in January (this year).
"I toyed with the idea of going back and forth and playing another year with NSW but with the kids the ages that they are, it's just a bit hard and there's so much that you miss if I'm on the road for most of the year.
"So I decided to move back to Hobart and then was lucky enough that Tassie have offered me a year (contract)."
Bird said he would have retired from first-class cricket if he didn't get a contract offer from Tasmania, despite NSW being keen for him to play for another season.
"I don't know how happy I would have been about that decision because I still feel like I've got some good cricket left in me," he said.
"(But) it would have been too hard to do it in NSW … flying in and out.
"After the last couple of years (with NSW), I probably didn't think I'd get the opportunity to play for Tassie again.
"There was a bit of frustration on my end (when I left at the end 2022-23), but I felt it was important not to leave on bad terms with Cricket Tas.
"I owe my whole professional career to Tassie; they gave me a start back in 2011.
"I'm really grateful to be able to come back and finish my career with Tassie after spending so many years here in the past."
Bird (408) returns for his second stint with Tasmania with only Clarrie Grimmett (513), Queensland pair Michael Kasprowicz (441) and Andy Bichel (430), and WA's Jo Angel (419) ahead of him on the Sheffield Shield's all-time wickets tally.
His average of 22.11 is the best of the lot.
Despite the one-year deal, he hasn't put an end date on his career just yet and said winning a Sheffield Shield was still driving him to keep playing.
Tasmania reached the Shield final the season after Bird left for NSW in 2023-24, going down to Western Australia by 377 runs.
Bird missed the state's most recent Shield triumph 2012-13 with a back injury, but he potentially wouldn't have been available anyway after breaking into the Australian Test team that summer.
He also played in two other losing finals during his first 12 years with the Tigers, going down to Queensland both times (2011-12 and 2017-18).
"It's something I haven't done in my career; I've come close a couple of times," he said.
"At this stage of my career playing for Australia is not an option and I think any professional athlete wants to win, and I'm no different.
"The Tigers have certainly got the group to push to win Shields.
"They've come close to winning the Shield a couple years ago, and then a win here or there (last season) would have got them into the final.
"I think success is around the corner and to be able to finish my career potentially with winning the Shield would be an absolute highlight."
Bird didn't play any 50-over cricket with the Blues last season and said he would again focus more on the red-ball format next season, with his playing commitments to also look different than his previous campaigns with Tasmania.
"I've realised it's not that feasible for me to play every game just being older and more susceptible to niggles," he said.
"It's more important to manage myself through the game.
"I wouldn't have thought that I'd be available for 10 Shield games but I'd like to be available for as many as possible.
"I know my role is going to be different now. Before I left I was leading the attack, now we've seen Gabe Bell over the last couple of years really take that extra responsibility and lead the attack, and he's taken his game to a new level.
"My role will be to support him as much as I can and that's something I'm really looking forward to as well.
"If I'm not playing Shield cricket every game, it might give me the opportunity to play some one-day cricket.
"But the way the Tigers set up their one-day attack with Nathan Ellis, Riley (Meredith), Tom Rogers and Billy Stanlake, it's pretty hard team to get into."
Bird said NSW had given him a lot of opportunities to work with master coach Greg Shipperd to learn about coaching, and it was definitely something he wanted to explore when his playing days were done.
"First and foremost, I'm down here fully committed to being a player and the coaching stuff we'll sort out at a later date," he said.
"Any senior player in any squad has a bit of a responsibility to help the younger guys navigate the early stages of their career because it can be pretty tough playing first-class cricket.
"I'm sure there will be some opportunities throughout the year to learn from some of the (Tasmania) coaches like Jeff (Vaughan), and Rob Cassell is a great bowling coach, so I'll be trying to learn as much as I can off him."
The veteran quick said he would also benefit from a different looking Tigers squad to the one he left in 2023.
Bird will rejoin a younger Tasmanian squad in 2025-26 // Getty
"There was Peter Siddle, Ben McDermott, Tim Paine and Matthew Wade still playing who were around my age," he said.
"It's now a different demographic now, a younger group.
"I'm really looking forward to that because as an older player I thrive off the younger guys now to help me get me through hard sessions, and I sort of feed off their energy as well."
Tasmania have also re-signed last season's Sheffield Shield leading run-scorer Jake Weatherald on a three-year deal, as well as securing speedster Riley Meredith for another two seasons.
Another recruit is 210cm left-armer Marcus Bean, who signed a two-year state contract earlier this week after debuting for Hobart Hurricanes in KFC BBL|14.
-1744214922-q80.webp "Potential destination for Anthony Rizzo would reunite slugger with former World Series teammate")
-1741052966-q80.webp "‘Strict bubble’: Smith’s twist on India’s controversial CT advantage as Aussie tormentor looms")