Short ruled out of West Indies tour having picked up a minor side strain during training and is set to return home.
A side strain has forced Matt Short to miss the T20I series in the West Indies, and skipper Mitchell Marsh has stated that he is unlikely to bowl again before the T20 World Cup the following year.
It has been determined that Short will come home because he pulled up sore after training in Jamaica and the series is so short. He should be able to play against South Africa in the Top End next month, though, given the injury is deemed “minor”.
Short missed the semi-final match against India earlier this year due to a quad injury he sustained during the Champions Trophy. With 14 T20Is played thus far, Short is thought to have a good chance of playing in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka the following year.
His absence has given Jake Fraser-McGurk, who was just introduced to the team as a replacement for injured speedy Spencer Johnson, an unexpected opportunity. The main reason Fraser-McGurk was called up was to cover for Josh Inglis at wicketkeeping. Now, he and Marsh will open the first game at Sabina Park.
Marsh, meanwhile, declared that he will spend the upcoming months playing as a specialist batter. He has only been employed once in white-ball internationals since March 2024 and hasn’t bowled since the Test series against India late last year.
“Currently the bowling’s offline and we’ll just see where that gets to,” Marsh said. “But looking forward to just playing as a batsman for the moment.”