D’Arcy Short: Hampshire Hawks sign Australian batsman for T20 Blast 2021

D’Arcy Short: The left-handed Australian batsman will head to England for his second stint in the Vitality T20 Blast.

Australia batsman D’Arcy Short will represent Hampshire Hawks in the upcoming season of T20 Blast. The development was announced by Hampshire on their website a couple of hours ago.

Short, who had made his Blast debut for Durham Dynamos in 2019, will be heading to England for his second stint in the competition. In his maiden season, Short had scored 483 runs in 12 innings at an average and strike rate of 43.91 and 139.60 respectively which also comprised of four half-centuries.

Having last represented Australia last year, Short’s most recent T20 outing was for Hobart Hurricanes in Big Bash League 2020-21 where his 345 runs in 14 innings had come at 24.64 and 120.20.

In addition to representing Durham and Hobart in renowned T20 competitions, Short has also played Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. In his 100-match T20 career, Short has amassed 3,349 runs at 36.40 and 133.58 including two centuries and 26 half-centuries.

Hampshire, who had earlier announced the signing of New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme for this year’s T20 Blast, now have a couple of hard-hitting overseas batsmen in their lineup.

However, Short, who has been named in Australia’s 23-member preliminary squad for the tour of West Indies, might not be available for the whole of T20 Blast especially if he gets named in the final squad.

D’Arcy Short to represent Hampshire in Vitality T20 Blast 2021

“I am so excited to join a Club with as much history as Hampshire Hawks! I can’t wait to get to The Ageas Bowl and hopefully we can have a strong season and win our first title since 2012,” Short said in a statement published on Hampshire’s website.

“We are delighted to secure the signing of D’Arcy for this summer’s Vitality Blast competition. 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 and are looking forward to having him with us,” Hampshire Director of Cricket Giles White said in a statement.