Matt Short

The best all-rounders give you the feeling that they are always in the game, and Matt Short radiates that quality from the moment he walks onto the field. The right-handed batsman scores freely at the top of the order with the confidence of a man who trusts his technique against pace and spin alike, and then he rolls the arm over with tidy off-spin that restricts and disrupts in equal measure. His Big Bash form has been outstanding, earning him international recognition and a reputation that grows with every match — the reputation of a future Australian regular whose time is not approaching but arriving.

At the Adelaide Strikers, Short is the key figure around whom the franchise builds its tactical flexibility. His ability to bat at the top or slot into the middle order, combined with the off-spin bowling that gives captains an additional option, makes him the kind of T20 cricketer that every side in the Big Bash envies. His fielding is athletic and energetic, completing a cricketing profile so well-rounded that it is difficult to find a weakness — and more difficult still for opposition analysts to construct a plan to neutralise him.

Career Statistics

Player Profile

Short enters 2026 as one of the Adelaide Strikers’ most important players and a genuine contender for Australian selection across formats. Through 60 matches and 1,500 runs, his all-round contributions make him one of the most valuable domestic cricketers in the country, a player approaching his prime at twenty-nine with the trajectory still pointing upward. He will play a central role in the Strikers’ campaign, the all-rounder whose dual capabilities give the franchise an edge that others can only envy.

EC — Senior features writer, australiafootball.com