Ben McDermott has been called up to Australia’s ODI squad after Matthew Short was ruled out of the third match against the West Indies in Canberra on Tuesday owing to a minor hamstring strain. This last-minute change comes as Australia seeks to maintain its lead in the series.
Since making his international debut for Australia in 2018, McDermott has played 25 T20Is and six ODIs. It’s an unfortunate turn for Short, who is trying to establish himself in the ODI team after being voted the BBL player of the tournament for the second season in a row.
Matthew Short sustained the injury in Sunday’s series-clinching triumph at the SCG. He scored 41 runs with the bat but was unable to field due to an injury sustained while batting. Short is also in Australia‘s T20 team, which will face the West Indies in the series that follows the one-day matches, although it is unclear whether he will be part of the T20 series.
Following the first ODI at the MCG, Travis Head was sent home to rest, leaving Australia with no extra batters in the squad. McDermott struck a brilliant 146 not out for Queensland in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania on Saturday. The Right-handed batter will join the Australian squad in Canberra on Monday.
McDermott has not played an ODI for Australia since April 2022. He scored his first and only ODI century on that tour. The 29-year-old was part of Australia’s squad in the T20I series in India after the World Cup, scoring 54 from 36 in the last T20I in Bengaluru.
Australia will also be without premier pacer Josh Hazlewood in Canberra, as he is expected to remain in Sydney before joining the T20I squad in Hobart ahead of Friday’s opening T20I against the West Indies.
Spencer Johnson has also been called up, and Xavier Bartlett is expected to return to the team after being rested for the encounter in Sydney following his remarkable debut in Melbourne. Given Travis Head’s rest during the series and Short’s hamstring issue, Australia’s selectors will most likely need to add at least one more batter to the T20I team.
Australia ODI squad for 3rd ODI: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Ben McDermott, Will Sutherland, Adam Zampa