Short explains why he declined state contract

Matt Short hopes his decision to turn his back on a state contract will open up overseas T20 opportunities that can help him win a permanent place in Australia's white-ball sides.

Short has linked up with the Aussie ODI squad for their three-match series in Pakistan beginning this weekend after playing three games for Indian Premier League strugglers Chennai Super Kings.

The 30-year-old's call to forgo the safety of a domestic contract allows him to play domestic T20 leagues around the globe, even during the Australian summer.

As well as his A$255k IPL deal, he is captain of USA Major League Cricket's San Fransisco Unicorns and has been picked up by the Welsh Fire in the UK's Hundred.

The off-spinning allrounder also has two seasons to run on his BBL deal with the Adelaide Strikers. Before then there are T20 leagues in Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East he could feature in that he might not otherwise have been able to had he accepted a contract with Victoria, whose season begins in September.

Short, who grew up in Ballarat, remains aligned with his native state despite moving to Queensland for family reasons last year.

"The Vics have been really good for me, not only with these discussions, but probably over the last couple of years," he said in Islamabad ahead of Saturday's first ODI against Pakistan.

"Moving up north to Queensland with my family, there's been a lot of discussions there with travel and availability and stuff like that.

"At the end of the day, my main goal is to play as much white-ball cricket for Australia as I can, and if there are overseas tournaments that I want to choose over playing state cricket to further develop my game in the white-ball space, then I'll try and take that and we'll go from there."

Victoria coach Chris Rogers has previously talked up Short's prospects as a Test middle-order batter who can bowl spin.

But the right-hander has played only five Sheffield Shield games over the past two summers, averaging 42 with the bat and 22 with the ball.

He insists he has not shut the door on playing first-class cricket again: "The last couple of years have only seen me play a few games here and there, so it's been hard to get that continuous run with the red-ball (cricket).

"But at this stage my main goal is to play as much white-ball cricket for Australia.

"I think by developing my game in that space, it is playing around the world and learning different conditions and learning my game a bit more and playing white-ball (cricket)."

Dropped for Matthew Renshaw from Australia's T20 World Cup squad at the eleventh-hour earlier this year, Short is aware he has a fight on his hands to win an ongoing spot in both limited-overs formats.

Despite him being Australia's leading run scorer in their most recent ODI series against India in November, it appears likely he would not have gone to Pakistan at all had selectors known fellow spinning allrounder Cooper Connolly would be available.

When Connolly was left out of the Pakistan series, his Punjab Kings appeared bound for the IPL playoffs.

Selectors instead picked Short, whose Chennai side were all but certain to miss a top four spot, but left him out of the ensuing ODIs in Bangladesh. Connolly was picked for those matches instead.

The Kings then went on a six-game losing streak to also miss the finals. Connolly will still replace Short for the Bangladesh ODIs. Short has been omitted from the T20Is in Chattogram that follow with Joel Davies picked instead.

Where Short has bounced around between between opening, first-drop and No.7 positions in his 13-game T20I career, his ODI role in recent times has been more consistent, batting in the top three in his past 13 ODIs dating back to September 2024.

Perhaps with that in mind, he played down any suggestion he could fill middle-order finisher Glenn Maxwell's shoes in the ODI side following the allrounder's retirement. Still, he has one eye on next year's 50-over World Cup in southern Africa.

"Any time you're in an Australian squad you're never too sure of if you're going to get picked or not," he said. "We've got some young guys in the squad now and guys from below that are really pushing for a spot.

"Now that Maxi's  finished up … it does open a door, but not for me personally. There's plenty of other guys that can do a job. I'm just looking forward to doing what I can. If I do get that opportunity, then really try and make sure I grab it with both hands.

"It is a long way away, but I think anytime there's ODIs for Australia and a World Cup coming up, a lot of guys' eyes go towards that and want to prepare for that.

"I know for me personally, I want to try and get some runs and some performance on the board to hopefully cement my spot in series to come. I'm sure a lot of the other guys are too.

"I mentioned a little bit of a transition with some younger guys in, and a lot of Test cricket coming up, so there's hopefully going to be a lot of opportunity for some younger guys and guys like myself as well.

"We've certainly got our eyes towards next year's World Cup, and (the build-up) probably starts now."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan & Bangladesh 2026

Australia squad for Pakistan ODIs: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa

Pakistan squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir, Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Sufyan Moqim

May 30: First ODI, Rawalpindi Stadium, 9:30pm AEST

June 2: Second ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST

June 4: Third ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST

Australia squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa

June 9: First ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST

June 11: Second ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST

June 14: Third ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 3pm AEST

Australia squad for Bangladesh T20Is: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa

June 17: First T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST

June 19: Second T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST

June 21: Third T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST

All matches exclusive on Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket