Back-to-back BBL awards for superstar Short

Matt Short's 2023 was something else.

The Adelaide Strikers allrounder began the year named the KFC BBL|12 player of the tournament, he made his debut for Australia in one-day and T20 internationals, and made his first appearance in the Indian Premier League and The Hundred in England.

And 12 months later his stunning form is showing no signs of relenting, tonight named the KFC BBL|13 player of the tournament.

Short becomes the third player to win the gong in consecutive seasons, after Chris Lynn in BBL|05 and BBL|06 and D'Arcy Short in BBL|07 and BBL|08.

After his breakout campaign over the 2022-23 summer, Short was installed as full-time captain for the Strikers this season and dominated from the outset.

He crunched 541 runs in his 11 matches, nearly 200 runs more than the next-most prolific player (Josh Brown, 366) and his strike rate of 153.26 had him up there with the most destructive.

He began with 82 off 41 balls against the Sydney Thunder, which saw his Strikers chase down 200 at the Adelaide Oval.

And his unbeaten 76 off 51 balls was instrumental in the Strikers' nine-wicket win over two-time reigning champions Perth Scorchers.

Although the Strikers started the tournament slowly under his leadership with just one win from their first five games, Short's side found their groove to win four straight matches to end the home-and-away matches. It was enough to qualify for the finals where they defeated the Scorchers in the Knockout, before losing to eventual champions Brisbane Heat in the Challenger.

The third-placed finish was the Strikers' best season since they won the title in BBL|07.

As well as taking home the BKT Golden Bat, the Victorian was also named the captain of the Team of the Tournament.

While Short didn't have the same impact with the ball as he had done in previous seasons (five wickets), he took full advantage of his captaincy privileges by opening both the batting and bowling in nine of his 11 matches.

And his stunning caught and bowled in the Knockout will go down as one of the catches of the season.

Contracted to the Adelaide franchise until the end of BBL|15, Short is well on the way to becoming the Strikers' greatest-ever BBL player; his 1837 runs in blue has him behind only Jake Weatherald (2101) for the most runs for the men's side.