Jones, who this month won the WDCA division two best and fairest award, has committed to the Tigers for his fifth summer in the competition.

He spent two seasons with Port Fairy after crossing from Drumborg-Heywood in 2011, before moving to Koroit where he has been since 2013.

Jones, 26, flagged a return to division one at the WDCA presentation night at Warrnambool Bowls Club last week.

He said he considered returning to Port Fairy, while other clubs had also shown interest in securing his services.

But having mates at Merrivale convinced him to sign with the Tigers, who this week unveiled Luke Gannon as their coach for next season.

Jones arrives at Tigerland on the back of a stellar campaign. He made 440 runs and took 35 wickets, despite the Saints winning just three matches.

The return was among the best in his career. “I think what’s changed is I’ve become more consistent with age,” he said.

He was excited about the fresh start and believed he left Koroit in good shape.

“Whoever takes on that role is going to have a good group to work with. They’ve got a lot of young guys,” he said.

“Then you’ve got guys like Michael Darmody and Matt Lynch, who could play in any division one side but want to stay with Koroit.”

Merrivale finished the WDCA season third in the Hopkins conference, two points behind second-placed Dennington, despite knocking off conference leader Allansford in the final round.