Who is Matthew Short? - Australian cricketer who took his first-ever five-wicket haul vs England

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Matthew Short, an Australian cricketer, took a historical fifer against England to become the first full-member team player to open the batting and take a fifer in the same in T20Is. He also registered his best spell and overall third-best figures by an Australian in men’s T20Is. He is only behind Aston Agar (6/30 vs New Zealand in 2022) and Adam Zampa (5/19 vs Bangladesh in 2021). The 28-year-old made his debut for Australia on 30 August 2023 against South Africa in Durban.

He has represented several teams throughout his exciting cricket career, including the Australian national side, Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Northern Superchargers in The Hundred, Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League, San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket, as well as the Australian Under-19s, National Performance Squad, Victoria Under-23s, and Washington Freedom.

Born on 8 November 1995 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia's Matt Short has played four ODI matches and 11 T20Is for the national side so far. He has scored 52 runs in ODIs with a 17.33 average and 252 runs with a 25.20 average in T20Is. Additionally, he has taken seven wickets in T20Is, including his historical spell of 5/22 against England, which came on 13 September 2024 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

Matthew Short first gained recognition as a young cricketer when he represented Australia in the 2014 Under-19 World Cup, where he scored 237 runs in six matches. He ended up being the second-highest run-getter for Australia, just behind Jake Doran.

He made his first-class debut against New Zealanders on 29 October 2015 in a three-day match. Further, Melbourne Renegades gave him a contract in 2013-2014, where he played two games. His true potential came out when he batted at the top of the order for the Adelaide Strikers in BBL.

Playing for Punjab Kings, Matthew Short made his IPL debut against Mumbai Indians on May 3, 2024, scoring 27 runs off 26 balls before getting dismissed by Piyush Chawla. He played a total of six matches for the Punjab Kings and scored 117 runs with a 127.17 strike rate.