Short was born in Katherine, Northern Territory, but moved to Darwin at about the age of four. He is of Indigenous Australian descent through his maternal grandmother a direct descendant of an Apical Ancestor, whose ancestors are the Migunberri people.[1] There is a special memorial setup within the Yugambeh Museum dedicated to his Apical Ancestor Elizabeth Wheeler.
Short's parents ran an indoor sports centre in Darwin and he grew up playing indoor cricket before progressing through the Darwin grade cricket leagues. At the age of 16, he commuted between Darwin and Adelaide to play in the South Australian Grade Cricket League. He later moved to Perth to have more opportunity to play at higher levels.[2]
In February 2010, Short made his debut for Western Australia in the Futures League after performing well for the Northern Territory in the Imparja Cup in 2009. He was also selected in an Indigenous Australian cricket team that toured England in June and July 2009.[4][5] In March 2011, Short was named the Lord's Taverners Indigenous Cricketer of the Year award winner.[6]
On 10 January 2018, Short made the highest individual score in a Big Bash League match at the time, scoring 122 not out off 69 balls against Brisbane Heat.[9] During the tournament, Short scored a total of 578 runs, including five half-centuries and a century, the most runs by any player in the competition history. He also took 3 wickets during the season and was named Player of the Tournament.[10]
In March 2019, Short signed for Durham for the upcoming T20 Blast season.[12] He made a fine start to his first game in Durham colours, contributing to a seven run victory over Northamptonshire with an aggressive innings of 46 from 40 balls, whilst also taking 2 wickets from 4 overs.
Short scored a match winning 76 from 46 balls against New Zealand at Eden Park later in the same series. New Zealand posted a mammoth total of 243 with the help of a century from the bat of Martin Guptill. Australia started their innings with David Warner and Short with the pair scoring 121 for the first wicket, including the highest powerplay score of 91 runs.[18] Australia eventually won the match by recording the highest successful chase ever in T20I history, with Short named as the man of the match for his batting performance.[19]
In June 2018, Short along with Aaron Finch registered the highest ever opening partnership of 223 runs in a T20I match against Zimbabwe which was ended in the final over with Short managing to score only 46 runs off 42 balls while Finch went on to score a world record individual score of 172 off 76 balls.[22][23] The partnership of 223 between Finch and Short is also the highest partnership for any wicket in a T20I and also marked the first ever instance of a 200+ run stand in a T20I match for any wicket.[24] The partnership was also the second highest ever partnership for any wicket in any form of T20, just behind 229 runs set by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.[25] Australia finally won the match by 100 runs, which is their biggest winning margin in T20Is.[26]
On 16 July 2020, Short was named in a 26-man preliminary squad of players to begin training ahead of a possible tour to England following the COVID-19 pandemic.[27][28] After the tour to England, which Short did not embark on, he resumed his national duties in the T20I series against India.
References
^Alternatively: Migunni, Migunburri, Migunni, Miganbari. The Migunberri, also known as the Mt. Barney/Christmas creek clan, are the people of the Upper-Logan river valley Qld. The name Migunberri is derived from Migun ‘Mountain Spikes’ with the suffix ‘-berri’ attached, this is a common clan/locality suffix. Migunberri means ‘Mountain Spike People’ and refers to the numerous mountains located across their country.
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