Dorff's white-ball focus delivers

[Nergal]

 

Jason Behrendorff says his decision to concentrate solely on limited-overs cricket has been vindicated with a recall to the national T20 side, as Australia look to the injury-plagued paceman to turn around their faltering white-ball fortunes.

Named in a 13-player squad for the upcoming T20Is against South Africa and India, Behrendorff returns to the Australian set-up for the first time since his heartening introduction to international cricket in India last year.

It comes with the Aussies having lost 17 of their last 19 ODIs, while the strides they looked to have made in the shortest format earlier in 2018 were squandered with a 0-3 series sweep against Pakistan in the UAE last month.

The practical decision to rest Australia’s premier quicks Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood due to the hectic schedule over the coming months against the Proteas (for a one-off T20 on the Gold Coast) and India (for three T20s in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney) leaves plenty of responsibility on Behrendorff's shoulders.

In a bid to get over the persistent back issues that have stalled his promising career, the left-armer has opted to sit out the first half of the JLT Sheffield Shield season despite still harbouring a strong desire to eventually win a Test berth.

"It's something we spoke about at length at the end of last season in particular, because I've had recurrent (injuries), the same ones over the last couple of years," Behrendorff told reporters in Perth.

"It's a decision we didn't make lightly but something we thought, for the longevity of my career, to give me a bit more time now (to recover) has been really good.

"It's a perfect plan now, it's worked out really well. Everything's been leading up well into the Big Bash and this is a perfect stepping stone to get ready for that as well.

"We're going to reassess (the white-ball only plan) after the Big Bash. We'll get through that first and then track how my body's going, see how I'm feeling and make some decisions after that."

Behrendorff needed just four balls back in Aussie gold to show he was ready for a recall.