Matthew Short makes his case to be Warner’s successor

“All yours now champion.” That was the caption David Warner posted on his Instagram Story picture of himself and Jake Fraser-McGurk sharing a drink following his T20I retirement in June.

It was assumed by Warner and the majority of Australia that Fraser-McGurk was his natural successor at the top of the order in Australia’s T20I side and possibly the ODI team as well.

But Australia’s selectors aren’t so sure at the moment, and Matthew Short is intent on making his case to be the permanent partner to Travis Head after making 41 off 26 in a blistering match-winning 86-run stand off 36 balls to take the opening T20I away from England’s reach before the end of the first powerplay in Southampton.

While Fraser-McGurk’s meteoric star has shot from the fringes of domestic cricket into the stratosphere in less than 12 months thanks to a mind-blowing IPL, Short has been the country’s most consistent all-format batter at Australian domestic level in the past two years and the most dominant opener in the BBL over the past two tournaments, winning back-to-back tournament MVP awards.

Short was unsure if he would get the chance to open after missing the Scotland series due to the birth of his first child. But he is intent on taking his chance at the top of the order after being shuffled around in his previous eight T20I innings.

“I only found out last night,” Short said following Australia’s 28-run win. “Obviously, with Davey Warner out, you sort of know that the spot’s opened up. But then Jake Fraser-McGurk has been playing the last few games in Scotland, so you never know where you sit. But I’m glad I sort of took that opportunity tonight and played my role to help the team with a win tonight.

“It’s a personal sort of goal of mine. I’ve been in and out of the side recently over the last 12-18 months. Now Dave is out, I’m really trying to take this opportunity and cement my spot in this side.”

The opening spots in Australia’s T20I are the most coveted and the most competitive. Australia have a multitude of players who can do it well. Where the selectors would like to build depth is in the middle order and the death overs. It was an area that won them the 2021 World Cup through Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade, who had been moulded into death batters despite being domestic openers. They have found a world class specialist in Tim David but he has come off the boil slightly since a sizzling start to his career, albeit he is still contributing in the most difficult of batting roles. It was an area Australia fell short in during the recent T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in the losses to Afghanistan and India having been in positions to achieve both chases. They also fell away badly against England in Southampton although it did not cost them the game, turning a powerplay of 86 for 1 into a total of 179, having been bowled out without using all 20 overs.

Australia’s selectors want to build flexibility with all their T20I batters, and had tried to give Short some opportunities in the middle order on last year’s five-match T20I tour of India, this year’s tour of New Zealand and also in three of his four ODI appearances. But it has become abundantly clear that Short is most comfortable at the top of the order. In T20s, he averages 29.96 and strikes at 150.09 batting in the top three compared to 14.09 at a strike rate of 113.97 batting at No.4 or lower.

The strike rate divergence is even higher in his limited T20I appearances. He strikes at 186 in his seven innings in the top three and just 126.66 in his two innings at No.6.

It is clear he has his method worked out at the top of the order, and he fits in seamlessly alongside Head in Australia’s game plan to go as hard as they can in the powerplay.

“It’s a pretty clear game plan from the coaching staff,” Short said. “Just go out there with freedom and take the positive options. Trav and I sort of go into the games with that mindset.”

Short being preferred to Fraser-McGurk for the opening game of this series is not a guarantor of the selectors’ future thinking as they plan for the 2026 World Cup. Fraser-McGurk’s talent remains a tantalising prospect. But even his IPL coach Ricky Ponting admitted this week on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast that his game still needs refining. Fraser-McGurk’s all or nothing showing in Scotland was evidence of that where he faced 17 dot balls in 23 deliveries across three innings.

Short, by contrast, scored off the first seven balls he faced in Southampton but did not strike a boundary until his sixth delivery when he launched back-to-back sixes off Reece Topley.

Captain Mitchell Marsh said earlier this week there was “no pressure” on Fraser-McGurk to succeed immediately at international level. But Short is applying some pressure of his own to give Australia a wealth of opening options.