Matt Short puts hand up to lead Australia in Pakistan T20 series

An exciting batter could take on an Australian captaincy role little more than 12 months since his international debut.

Matt Short’s meteoric rise through Australia’s white-ball ranks could extend to the T20 captaincy, as the opener confirmed he was in discussions for the leadership role.

The 28-year-old is firmly in the frame to fill in for captain Mitch Marsh, who is on paternity leave, along with Travis Head, for the three-match series against Pakistan this month.

Pat Cummins has returned to lead Australia’s one-day team in the preceding series beginning at the MCG on Monday, but Short, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa are among the contenders for the captaincy in the shorter format.

Short was handed the reins of the Adelaide Strikers ahead of the last BBL campaign and delivered a career-best tournament with the bat, crashing 541 runs at an average of 60 and strike rate of 153.

“Yeah, definitely (I’m interested). I’ve done it for a little bit now with the Adelaide Strikers and really enjoyed being involved in making some of the calls,” Short said.

Matt Short made a strong start to the home summer with 80 off 58 balls for Victoria against NSW in the One-Day Cup last week. Picture: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

“The communication (from selectors) at the moment is just (within) a bit of a leadership group – they still haven’t made up their mind, but if it was me they wanted, I’d definitely put my hand up for it.”

Now with 19 international matches under his belt, the Victorian was looking forward to his first chance to bat for Australia at the MCG after he was not needed in a lower-order role against the West Indies last summer.

Short will open with Jake Fraser-McGurk in the first game but said there were no guarantees the batting order would remain set for the series.

But he was also keeping his eye on February’s Test tour of Sri Lanka and planned to play a pair of Sheffield Shield games before the BBL began to keep his red-ball selection chances alive.

“I’m always looking for that Test cap, it’s always something I’ve aspired to. I’ve had the question a few times recently – it’s been really hard trying to get back-to-back games, in Shield cricket especially,” Short said.

“Playing white-ball cricket for Australia, that’s probably been the priority for the last couple of years, but when the time comes to play Shield cricket, I’ll definitely give it my all. I’ll try to score runs and take wickets, and we’ll see what happens.

New Pakistan coach Jason Gillespie (left) and Matt Short find themselves on opposing sides this month after six seasons together at the Adelaide Strikers. Picture: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images

“I probably need a couple of Shield games under the belt just to see where I’m at and get those days under my legs and see how the body holds up.

“There’s a lot of cricket to be played before then … I’d definitely put my hand up.”

Short spoke at length to Pakistan coach Jason Gillespie in the middle of the MCG on Friday, with his former mentor parachuted in to lead the tourist’s limited-overs teams after the bizarre exit of Gary Kirsten, who had not led Pakistan in a single game.

“I just had a chat to Dizzy (Gillespie), he’s obviously taken the reins for their side this series, and he’s coached me in Adelaide for quite a number of years now,” he said.

“It’s a little bit (unnerving) – I’ve probably had him for six or seven years, and he’s probably a big reason why I’m here today, giving me the opportunity in Adelaide and even to open the batting.

“He knows me like the back of his hand, so he’s probably going to tell them all my tricks.”

Originally published as Matt Short puts hand up to lead Australia in Pakistan T20 series