How Tim Paine helped D’Arcy Short make BBL move from Hobart Hurricanes to Adelaide Strikers
One of the most dominant batters in BBL history — D’Arcy Short — opens up to TIM MICHELL about joining Adelaide, a frustrating finish in Hobart, his ambitions to represent Australia again and more.
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Rarely has a BBL team sheet caused such widespread shock.
In: Crawley. Out: D.Short.
Not long after the smoke had cleared from the New Year’s fireworks in the City of Churches, Hobart Hurricanes caused another bang when they dropped two-time BBL player of the tournament D’Arcy Short for a match against Adelaide Strikers.
Three days after steering the Hurricanes to victory, Short made way for English Ashes hero Zak Crawley.
His replacement at the top of the order — Caleb Jewell — was one of the form players of the summer and safe after belting 54 from 28 balls three nights prior.
Jewell’s emergence had pushed Short into an unfamiliar role in the Hobart middle-order. Crawley’s arrival meant someone had to make way.
“It was more frustrating because I felt like I should have been playing and I know that I was good enough to be playing,” Short said.
“It’s just that I wasn’t quite as consistent as what I was. I feel like how consistent I was for the two years that I won the (player of the tournament) maybe put me in a little bit of detriment.
“Everybody expected me to be that way the whole time. I felt like it was a bit of my own doing in terms of not being picked and not being as consistent as I was which hurt me in the end.”
By this point of the summer, the writing was on the wall.
Out of contract and out of favour, Short’s time as a Hurricane was coming to an end.
The powerful left-hander was still without a club in July, when his move to Adelaide on a two-year deal was announced.
Short revealed former Hobart teammate and Australian Test captain Tim Paine joining the Strikers as an assistant coach proved the catalyst for his move.
“I probably first spoke to Painey beforehand and found out that he was going there,” Short said.
“I think he just asked the question, if they were keen on me and what not, and it kind of just rolled on from there basically.
“I think I was someone that was on their radar, knowing that I was out of contract. Then basically, it went pretty fast.”
Short’s past two BBL campaigns have been punctuated by frustrating starts, reaching 15 in seven of his 10 innings last summer but only managing a high score of 35.
It has been a long way from the heights of 2017 and 2018, when he plundered 1209 runs across two BBLs to be crowned player of the tournament in consecutive summers.
“I just needed a change,” he told CODE Sports.
“It wasn’t going how I wanted it to in the last couple of years, obviously being dropped and not doing as well as what I would have liked.
“It all just came at the right time in terms of needing a change.”
The middle-order role was not completely foreign to Short, who has been deployed as a finisher for Western Australia and Australia.
But, it significantly limited his time in the middle and ultimately contributed to a season where he limped to a total of 153 runs at an average of 17.
“I think I batted four times at the top last year and then batted middle order, so I was finishing games off and I didn’t really get the chance,” he said.
“There was a couple of times I probably would have been not out so I didn’t really get the chance to go on from there.
“It’s hard to put big scores on the board when you’re batting lower down the order and not batting in the spot you normally do, but that was the choice they wanted to go with.
“Jewelly (Caleb Jewell) and (Ben) McDermott were doing well at the top. That was the way they went with it. Can’t do much from there.”
Short’s brief stint as a middle-order T20 player appears over after his move to Adelaide.
He is likely to be one half of a formidable opening partnership with recent Australian debutant Matthew Short, while Chris Lynn will feature at No.3 in a power-packed top-order.
“Having Lynn follow us from there would be quite nice,” he said.
“I think it might scare a few people hopefully. Hopefully it works out for all three of us.”
The Strikers have assembled one of the strongest squads for BBL13, with Afghan spin wizard Rashid Khan and English middle-order batter Adam Hose returning and experienced all-rounder Jamie Overton locked in via the recent draft.
Short plans to be at the forefront of Adelaide’s push for a first title since 2017-18, a final where the 33-year-old made 68 from 44 balls against his new club.
“Probably confidence and I guess pressure on myself in terms of wanting to do so well,” Short said of his form struggles in the past two seasons.
“Now that I’ve gone through those things and (have) a fresh start, it’s a new time to be able to put all that behind me and try to do well in a different team.”
Short welcomed daughter Frankie in March, shelving any plans to play overseas on the T20 circuit as he adapted to fatherhood.
“Hopefully next year I can get back into going to a couple of overseas tournaments and playing. But I am happy where I am,” he said.
“I want to play Shield cricket for WA. I want to play one-day cricket. Hopefully that keeps happening. But if not, hopefully I can join that tour of being a T20 cricketer and just gallivanting around the world playing cricket.”
Before then, he has designs on winning his spot back in Australia’s white-ball teams, having last featured in December, 2020 for the national T20 side.
“I probably wouldn’t be playing cricket if I didn’t want to still play for Australia to be honest,” he said.
“It’s still everyone’s dream. Obviously I have played a few games for Australia and I feel like I kind of have unfinished business to try and get back there and be a consistent player in international cricket.
“It would be nice. But obviously I’ve got to put scores on the board in terms of Big Bash cricket and one-day cricket to get another opportunity.”
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