‘I’m not going to go into my shell’: Matt Short vows to honour attacking approach after missing out in first ODI

Opening batter Matt Short says he won’t change his attacking approach in the second ODI against Pakistan as the series shifts to his home deck in Adelaide where he’s expecting different tactics to be employed by the visitors.

Short missed out in the first game of the series when he was dismissed for just one as the Aussies chased down the target of 203 thanks to some late heroics from skipper Pat Cummins.

The run chase was panned by former wicketkeeper Ian Healy, who was unhappy with some of the shot selections on Monday night.

The ultra-aggressive approach at the top of the order has worked in the past and is one of the main reasons why Australia is so dominant in white-ball cricket, and Short says he’ll stick to what he does best on Friday.

Short has dominated the BBL with 999 runs across the past two seasons but is trying to strike a balance with fellow opener Jake Fraser-McGurk, who played plenty of attacking shots before he was sent packing on 16.

“I don’t think I’ll change anything,” Short said.

“What I’ve done over the past couple of years has been working really well. I’ll stick to my game and go out there with confidence. I know that I failed last night, but I’m going to play my same role with the same aggressive nature, and hopefully it pays off.

“I came into this series with high aspirations to try to cement my spot in the team.

“It was a bit of a shaky start, but we’ve got the licence to go out with a bit of freedom – myself and Jake Fraser-McGurk – so I’m not going to go into my shell or anything like that.

“I’m going to go out there and keep trying to be positive and play aggressive cricket. It should pay off at some stage.”

Pakistan’s bowlers troubled the home side with plenty of short stuff on Monday, but that tactic won’t work in Adelaide where the boundaries are much shorter square of the wicket compared with the MCG.

“It’s going to feel quite comfortable down there opening the batting, that’s for sure,” Short said ahead of the second game in Adelaide.

“It’s my favourite ground in the world to play at, and I’ve played there quite a number of times, so I should be pretty familiar with it.

“We saw Pakistan’s tactics with their bowling (in Melbourne) bowling pretty short, but I think they may have to change that a little bit at this ground with the shorter square boundaries which are the complete opposite to the ‘G.”