Hampshire hoping Australian star D’Arcy Short will repeat his Durham form in this summer’s T20 Vitality Blast

Hampshire have announced the signing of Australian batsman D’Arcy Short for this summer’s Vitality Blast.
D'Arcy Short, seen here batting for the Hobart Hurricanes, will play for Hampshire in the 2021 Vitaliy Blast tournament. Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images.D'Arcy Short, seen here batting for the Hobart Hurricanes, will play for Hampshire in the 2021 Vitaliy Blast tournament. Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images.
D'Arcy Short, seen here batting for the Hobart Hurricanes, will play for Hampshire in the 2021 Vitaliy Blast tournament. Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images.

The 30-year-old left-hander, who has played eight one-day internationals and 23 Twenty20s for his country, will be available for the whole of the Hawks’ campaign.

In 99 career T20 games, Short has scored 3,349 runs at an impressive 36.80. He has also taken 46 wickets with his slow left-armers, with a career best 5-21.

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Hampshire’s director of cricket Giles White said: ‘He is a high-class performer who has consistently shown his ability to score a high volume of runs at the top of the order, both for Australia and in a number of the world’s best T20 competitions.

‘Alongside his skill with the bat, he also gives us another spin bowling option with the ball so we’re excited about what he brings to the side.’

Hampshire will be hoping Short can show the sort of form he displayed for Durham on his only previous experience of English county cricket.

He struck 483 runs in 12 innings for the north east county in the 2019 Vitality Blast at an average of 43.90.

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Only three players scored more than him in that year’s tournament - Somerset pair Babar Azam and Tom Banton and Middlesex’s Dawid Malan.

Short won three man of the match awards at Durham, including one for 46 off 40 balls and 2-19 off four overs v Northants on debut.

The opener’s other two awards were both against Leicestershire - hitting 70 off 36 balls and 77 not out off 36 deliveries again!

Short, who played seven Indian Premier League games for Rajasthan three years ago, has two T20 hundreds to his name.

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His first was a remarkable unbeaten 122 off 69 balls for the Hobart Hurricanes against Brisbane Heat in January 2018. Short hit eight sixes and eight fours and the second highest scorer, in a team total of 179-4, made just 19.

A maiden T20 century was certainly coming; in the previous nine days, he had also made 97 against Sydney Thunder and 96 against Adelaide Strikers.

Short also scored an unbeaten 103 off 70 balls for the Hurricanes against Perth Scorchers in January 2020.

His highest T20 innings for Australia in 23 matches is 76 (twice).

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Hampshire’s opening Vitality Blast game is against Kent at Canterbury on June 11. Due to The Ageas Bowl staging the World Test Championship final, the county’s first seven T20 games are all away.

Short will make his home debut against Middlesex on June 28.

He will also take part in the county’s home double header on Friday, July 16 – hosting Essex at 2pm and south coast rivals Sussex at 7pm. Tickets for those two games are the fastest-selling T20 tickets in Ageas Bowl history.