Victoria’s Sheffield Shield coach Chris Rogers believes Matt Short could be a missing piece of the puzzle for the Aussie Test XI going forward.
The 30-year-old was only recently dumped from the T20 World Cup squad on the eve of the tournament for Matt Renshaw.
However, this has opened up the possibility of playing some red-ball Sheffield Shield cricket for Victoria, though it won’t be in their clash with Queensland which starts on Thursday.
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Matt Short bats during the T20 International match between Pakistan and Australia. Getty
Rogers, a former Aussie Test opener, is disappointed by the selectors’ decision to omit Short in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and India.
“It’s not smooth sailing. You don’t just get better all the time, there’s challenges along the way,” Rogers told SEN’s Whateley.
“Shorty’s had a pretty good couple of years, but this is another challenge for him where they’ve probably identified a couple of areas in his game that they’re hoping he can improve.
“He’s got an opportunity to go and do that as well now with us, but from our point of view, and as a coach, I expect him to be able to do that.”
Short has averaged 18 at a strike-rate of 126 in his last nine T20I innings.
He battled injuries through much of 2025 that restricted his availability, including quad and side issues.
Matt Short bowls during day four of the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia. Getty
Beyond white-ball cricket, Rogers is bullish that Short could have an impact in the Test XI in the next year, particularly with a tour of India scheduled for early 2027.
This is in part because of his quality off-spin bowling, something that would give the team flexibility if they elect to play four seamers again as we saw in the Ashes.
“Every time he comes back into our Shield side, he’s almost our best player,” Rogers said.
“It’s his presence, the way he hits the ball. So, it’s just a bit of a shame he hasn’t had a good run at red ball cricket, because I think if he did, he’d put his name up into Test calculations.
“The fact that he can bowl pretty much frontline spin as well, as we saw when he got four wickets in the last innings against Western Australia, he could be an option if Australia are looking to play four fast bowlers.
“He could be one of those guys who does bat six or seven and bowls spin.
“It just depends on how many opportunities he gets in the red ball space to show that, but I’d love to see him get a bit of a run at Shield cricket.”
Beau Webster played this role in the Sydney Test, bowling some off-spin and batting down the order with great success.