It's been a trying start to the season for Matt Short, but it might be the ammo he needs ahead of the upcoming Big Bash season.
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Short will suit up for the Adelaide Strikers in the summer showcase, in what he hopes will be a respite from a win-less Sheffield Shield campaign with Victroria.
The 23-year-old, who arrived in Adelaide on Wednesday, said he was eager to turn things around.
"It's been frustrating at times, and there have been times I've got off to a good start with the bat and haven't been able to get on with it," he said.
"But hopefully i can turn that around and have a good Big Bash series."
Short will enter his second year with the Strikers following a three-year stint with the Melbourne Renegades.
After a seventh-place finish in the Bash in 2018, Short said he hoped to play a senior role with Adelaide this summer.
"Once the Big Bash comes around, everyone gets a bit of an energy boost," he said.
"It's like a mid-season break in a sense, but it's still some high-class cricket."
Short will put on the green shirt with something to prove, as he looks to rediscover top form before returning to Victoria in Febuary. His form has been up and down, but he's shown occasional flashes of his best.
Last month he emerged as a hero for the Vics, salvaging their innings with a knock of 88 before being dismissed 12 runs shy of a century.
"The team has been chopping and changing and my position has been chopping and changing," he said.
"Some games I might be opening or batting through the middle. It's been frustrating at times."
The Strikers said goodbye to South African international Colin Ingram in the off-season, but have welcomed former Australian all-rounder Cameron White.
Short said White's experience would pay dividends for the club, which will be seeking its second Big Bash title in three years.
I just want to try and make some big runs and hopefully that will lead to winning games for the club.
- Matt Short
He said it would also pay to watch Welsh-born cricketer Phil Salt, who displayed match-winning exploits with the bat during his time at Sussex.
With the competition primed to again prove popular among casual fans and purists alike, Short said he hoped to make big runs for the club.
"The Big Bash provides something you don't get with one-day cricket and that's one of the funnest things about it - it's short and sharp and always entertaining," he said.
The Strikers will play their first game on December 23.
