NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – D’Arcy Short is busy honing his bowling skills under spin coach Sridharan Sriram’s supervision to boost his one-day prospects, the Australian top order batsman said yesterday.
The 28-year-old was the top-scorer at this year’s Big Bash League with 637 runs in 15 matches and also claimed 10 wickets for the Hurricanes with his left-arm wrist spin.
The Western Australia opening batsman joined Australia’s limited-overs team in India as cover for the injured Shaun Marsh, an opportunity for Short to establish his part-time bowling reputation.
“I did a lot of work with him in the A tour in August and September,” Short said of his toil under former India spinner Sriram.
“That was good then and I’ve done a bit of work with him yesterday and today, just refining things and getting a little bit better.”
“If I can give two or three overs or even four or five in one-day cricket then it’s always going to help my selection in the end and hopefully it goes in my favour,” Short said in Hyderabad where Australia are training before leaving for Sunday’s first Twenty20 International at Vishakhapatnam.
Sriram has no doubts that Short could evolve into a handy part-time option for skipper Aaron Finch if he could align his technique and remains consistent with his length.
“We’ve seen in the Big Bash, he’s bowled a lot more than the previous years which I think is a very good sign for our cricket team going forward,” Sriram told cricket.com.au website.
“In international cricket it goes without saying, consistency of length is going to be very, very important.
“If he can do that and spin the ball both ways, which he does, when he’s bowling at his best I think he offers a lot to the team along with his batting.”
After the second Twenty20 International in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Australia return to Hyderabad for the first of the five one-day internationals on Mar. 2.
