Matt Short

Born on November 8, 1995, Matthew William Short is a top-order batter who bowls part-time off-spin. He plays for the Australian cricket team and represents the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League (BBL).

Short is a big hitter of the ball and has found a home in franchise leagues, thanks to his two-dimensional skillset. The 28-year-old batter came through the ranks of the Australian Under-19 squad that played in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2014.

Matt Short: Along the Years

Matt Short Records

• Second-highest run-scorer for Australia U-19 in ICC U-19 CWC 2014 (237)

• First Adelaide Strikers player to be named BBL ‘Player Of The Tournament’

• Third player to score 400 runs and take 10 wickets in a single BBL edition (2022-23)

• First Adelaide Strikers player to win consecutive BBL ‘Player Of The Tournament’ awards (2022-23 & 2023-24)

• Third player to win consecutive BBL ‘Player Of The Tournament’ awards (2022-23 & 2023-24)

Matt Short Awards

• Player Of The Tournament in BBL 2022-23

• Player Of The Tournament in BBL 2023-24

• Sportsperson Of The Year Award 2024 by Ballarat

Matt Short Career

Matt Short has had a relatively excellent career in the domestic circuit and has become a regular name across various franchise leagues around the globe. His smashing ability along with his capability to provide breakthroughs with the ball with his part-time off-spin has earned him a limited-overs mainstay.

Matt Short Domestic Career

Soon after impressing in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2014 for Australia U-19, Matt Short made his domestic debut for the National Performance Squad (NPS) against South Africa A in the Quadrangular A-Team One-Day Series 2014. He had a forgettable List-A debut as he was dismissed by Beauran Hendricks for a couple of runs as NPS lost the match by a margin of 10 runs.

Short made his T20 debut for Melbourne Renegades against Perth Scorchers in BBL 2014-15. Much akin to his List-A debut, the debutant was dismissed for 2 runs but managed to grab the wicket of opener Marcus Harris in the first innings.

The 28-year-old Aussie made his first-class debut (FC) for Cricket Australia XI against New Zealanders but did not get a chance to showcase his potential.

After moving to Adelaide Strikers from Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, he galloped to global attention when he was promoted up the order and did not disappoint. He won back-to-back ‘Player Of The Tournament’ (POTT) awards in BBL 2022-23 and 2023-24, becoming the first Striker to win a POTT and the third player to achieve the feat of scoring 400 runs with the bat and pick 10 wickets with the bat, after D’Arcy Short and Marcus Stoinis.

Matt Short IPL Career

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) roped in Matt Short as a replacement for the injured Jonny Bairstow in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. He made his IPL debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and did not have a memorable outing as South African all-rounder Marco Jansen dismissed him. 

Short has played only a handful of matches and has not gotten enough opportunities for his all-round capabilities to be tested.

Matt Short International Career

Following his domestic exploits as an improvising all-rounder, Matt Short earned his maiden national call-up to wear the Australian jersey in August 2023 for Australia’s tour of South Africa.

Matt Short ODI Career

Matt Short made his ODI debut for Australia against India in the first ODI as a practice series ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2023 which was to be held in the sub-continent. He was slotted in to bat at no. 8 but failed to deliver, not only with the bat but with the ball as well with Australia losing the match by 5 wickets.

Matt Short T20I Career

Matt Short made his T20I debut for Australia against South Africa in Australia’s tour of South Africa in August and September 2023. He opened the batting along with Travis Head and scored a quickfire 20 off just 12 balls as Australia won the match eventually by a humongous margin of 115 runs. In the next match, Short showed glimpses of his potential as he smashed 66 off just 30 balls, which included 7 boundaries and 4 sixes as Australia sealed the series 2-0 with an eight-wicket victory.

After having a successful campaign in the ICC CWC 2023, the Australians continued their tour of India in the shortest format of the game with a relatively inexperienced squad. Short managed to pick up his maiden T20I wicket in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first T20I of the T20I series between the two nations. He was gambled in the batting order as an opener along with Steven Smith and then demoted down the order, but never got going in the entire series.

Short was named as a traveling reserve along with Jake Fraser-McGurk for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Matt Short Captaincy

Ahead of BBL 2023-24, Matt Short was appointed as the skipper of Adelaide Strikers. He led the Strikers to the Challenger but lost the match to eventual winners Brisbane Heat by a margin of 54 runs.

Matt Short Under-19 Career

Matt Short was drafted into the Australian Under-19 squad to play in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2014. He was the Australia U-19’s second-highest run-scorer with 237 runs in six matches at an average of 39.50 after Jake Doran.

Matt Short Family

Matt Short got engaged to Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist Madi Wilson in October 2023. In February 2024, the couple announced on Instagram that they expect their first child later this year.