Adelaide Strikers opener Matt Short could soon find himself in national colours such has been his start to BBL|12, according to teammate Wes Agar.
The Strikers have started the new BBL season like a house on fire, waltzing to three wins from their opening games with a massive net run rate of 3.113.
Peter Siddle’s team is humming and will be hoping to carry that form deep in BBL|12, following an elimination in the BBL|11 semi-final.
Agar – who’s gone wicketless in two of his three games this season but claimed 4/6 in the other – credits the form to a newfound maturity amongst the group.
“We’re really lucky that we’ve had a few add-ons to our side this year with Chris Lynn coming in, Colin de Grandhomme coming in and we’ve got the brainpower of Peter Siddle as well in our team, it adds a lot of maturity to our group,” Agar said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“Then the likes of Matt Short doing what he’s doing, he performed so well last year and he started this year (in the same way), he started really well and it’s given us a lot of confidence…”
Questioned further on Short, Agar suggested that Short’s form has him in contention for an Australian T20 spot. Short has scores of 65, 9 and 84 in his opening three digs in BBL|12 and also gets through handy overs as a part-time off-spinner.
At 27, Short’s been around the scene for a while having made his BBL debut back in 2014, but a move to the top of the order has paid dividends.
“Last year was his breakout year and he’s started this year just the same. I guess in previous years leading into those two years it was hard for him to get his chance up the top, we had Jake Weatherald firing and we had Alex Carey – when he wasn’t on Aussie duties – opening the batting and it was hard to crack in,” Agar said.
“I guess he got his chance, he took it last year and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him in Aussie colours soon.”
Short is currently leading the BBL|12 run scorers and is yet to play for Australia in any format.
The big-hitter has also impressed former Aussie leg spinner Bryce McGain.
“He’s become a dominant force at the top of the order, he’d often played in the middle order for the Strikers but last year it was a bit of a stroke of genius that saw him up the top. He’s one of the more scary packages as an opening batsman to shape up against,” McGain added.
“He’s one of those players with a specific role… he won’t be playing T20 for a while with the Aussies… but he hits bombs, he just times the ball and puts it into the upper deck for fun.
“He’s certainly a player to watch. It was nearly step aside Chris Lynn and let Matt Short play the main game!”
Short and the Strikers will look to keep their unbeaten streak alive against the Brisbane Heat on Friday night.