Matt Short’s tour of the Caribbean has lasted no longer than a net session. The opener felt a twinge in his right side during training in Jamaica and, with three T20Is crammed into five days, medical staff have decided not to risk him. The strain is classed as “minor”, and Cricket Australia expects him to be fit for next month’s series against South Africa in Darwin.
Short’s latest niggle follows the quad problem that kept him out of this year’s Champions Trophy semi-final. He has only 14 T20Is under his belt but is widely tipped to make the cut for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, so caution now feels sensible.
His withdrawal hands an unexpected chance to Jake Fraser-McGurk. Initially drafted as cover after Spencer Johnson’s back issue – and, strangely, as emergency keeping cover for Josh Inglis – Fraser-McGurk will now open with captain Mitchell Marsh in Saturday’s series opener at Sabina Park.
Marsh, for his part, confirmed he is still some way from resuming bowling duties. “Currently the bowling’s offline and we’ll just see where that gets to,” he said. “But looking forward to just playing as a batsman for the moment.” He has not bowled in a Test since the India tour late last year and has sent down only one over in limited-overs internationals since March 2024.
Tim David (hamstring) is also out of game one but should be available on Tuesday. Senior players Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are being rested for the entire West Indies leg, while Cummins and Starc will skip the South Africa trip too. Australia, then, are very much in mix-and-match mode.
“First and foremost, it’s always ‘we’re representing Australia, we’re here to win the series’ and culturally, that’s how we want to go about it,” Marsh added. “There will be guys that get opportunities… We’ll see guys bat in different positions and get opportunities in certain positions.”
Australia’s selectors insist that rotation, not experimentation for the sake of it, guides their thinking. The next global tournament is still ten months away, yet every outing from here feels like part of the dress rehearsal – even if, for Short at least, this Caribbean act has ended before the curtain went up.
