Peter grew up in Morwell, a small town in Country Victoria and began playing A grade cricket at the age of 14 for Latrobe Cricket Club. He and his younger brother Dan were similar in age so they were very competitive in the backyard.

Peter made his First Class debut in 2005 for Victoria against the touring West Indies side, he was awarded his first State contract with Victoria for the 2006/07 summer. He impressed from the word go at State level and was almost immediately thrown into the national set up. He made his Test debut in Mohali 2008 against India with his first wicket he claimed Sachin Tendulkar. After another strong display for Australia throughout the 2008/09 Summer, Peter was named the 2009 ICC Emerging Player of the Year. In his first Test match in nearly a year after overcoming back issues, Peter became the ninth Australian to take a Test hattrick on what happened to be his 26th birthday along with figures of 6/54. Peter continued to be a regular member of the Test team until persistent back injuries forced him out of the side. Once he was fit again he worked tirelessly to get himself back in the selectors frame playing back to back seasons in Australia and for Essex in England. Through sheer weight of wickets Peter was picked on the 2019 Ashes tour, he played 3 matches and help lead Australia to retaining the trophy. Peter retired from International Cricket in December 2019.