Castaway Short's path back to Shield, international cricket

D'Arcy Short has been told his avenue back into international and Sheffield Shield cricket involves more bowling, with the castaway white-ball star striving to become a bona fide allrounder.

Six months ago Short was being touted as Australia's next 50-over finisher but now finds himself on the outer from not only the ODI and T20I teams, but Western Australia's Marsh Sheffield Shield side as well.

The left-hander could conceivably go nine months without playing a top flight game before he resumes his spot at the top of the Hobart Hurricanes' order for the KFC Big Bash.

It is a far cry from recent years in which Short has been hot property in overseas T20 leagues and for Australia's white-ball sides. His duties with the latter have limited him to just five first-class matches over the past two summers.

Short played as an opener in his only Shield game last season, hitting a half-century against a Test quality NSW attack, but has been told his best chance at a WA recall will be in the middle order as a spin-bowling allrounder.

National selectors have also asked Short, who turned down an offer from Tasmania over the off-season, to continue working on his bowling after he was overlooked for Australia's recent white-ball tour of England.

"There's been a bit of a shift there (towards seeing himself as an allrounder)," Short, who has played 28 limited-overs games for Australia, told cricket.com.au. "Not wanting to take away from my batting, but just adding another string to what I can do.

"Especially the last couple of years I've been a little more consistent with my bowling, and the last four to five months actually working on my bowling and showing I can be a lot more consistent and creative with my bowling (has been beneficial).

"I've been bowling a lot more during the pre-season. COVID has forced me to stay home – it's been a bit of a blessing, getting the chance to really work on my bowling which I haven't been able to do (extensively) for four or five years."

Having again missed selection for WA's round two match again NSW on Monday, Short has a considerable task winning back his spot given the state will welcome back middle order players Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Josh Philippe at different stages this season.

Former Test batter Hilton Cartwright also remains sidelined, while Ashton Agar celebrated his promotion to No.6 by scoring a century and taking a five-wicket haul in WA's 205-run win over South Australia last week.

But Short's left-arm wrist-spin has been increasingly effective in recent seasons; he took a five-wicket haul in the KFC BBL last summer for Hobart Hurricanes, while his 20 first-class wickets have come at the very respectable average of 34.10.

Left-arm wrist-spinners are in short supply but the 30-year-old has been paired up with one of the few to have played Test cricket in Western Australia assistant coach Beau Casson.

Casson, who earned a Baggy Green in Barbados in 2008 but had his career cut short due to a heart condition, spent the winter working closely with Short on his bowling.

"It's been great to work with him, especially with the technical stuff and just trying to be a bit more consistent with my action," Short said of Casson, who joined WA's coaching staff last year following a stint as NSW's batting coach.

"There's a lot of things he's brought with it, breaking (his action) down, running through (footage), which I didn't like to start with, but it's definitely put me on the right path to being more consistent and a better bowler.

"He's bowled left-arm leg-spin before so being able to work with someone who's done it and has insights into it has been massive."