He has struggled over the years for consistency in first-class matches, but is widely regarded as a white ball specialist due to his successes in the shorter forms of the game.

[11] Richardson was a crucial part of Such Australia's win in the 2010–11 Big Bash,[12] taking three key wickets against New South Wales in the final of the tournament.

[12] Richardson had a breakout season in 2012–13, particularly in the Ryobi Cup where he took 21 wickets in just five matches with a very good average of 13.8,[18] including a six-wicket haul against Queensland.

He had very good form, taking 13 wickets at an average of 11.30 and earning a return to Australia's ODI team for the 2014 Zimbabwe Tri-Series.

[26] He impressed Australian selectors enough to be included in both the ODI and T20I squad for Australia's matches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

[28] Despite his successes in 2014, Richardson was unable to secure his spot in the national side and wasn't included in the Australia A squad in 2015.

[29] Richardson made another comeback in the 2015–16 Australian summer when he was again very successful in one-day matches, being named South Australia's player of the tournament for the Matador Cup.

[29] His breakthrough performance came in this series, when in a match at Manuka Oval, he took five wickets, causing the Indian batting order to collapse and taking Australia from a losing position to a dramatic win.

[34] Although Richardson started to find consistent form and recover from his injury problems, he was unable to gain a permanent place in Australia's national team as Australia already had four world-class fast bowlers in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson.

[36] After spending the first six seasons of the Big Bash League with the Adelaide Strikers, being the club's all-time leading wicket-taker taking 42 wickets in 40 Twenty20 matches for the Strikers and South Australia combined, Richardson decided he wanted a fresh start and signed a new five-year contract with the Melbourne Renegades ahead of BBL|07.

[38][39] In May 2019, he was added to Australia's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, replacing Jhye Richardson, who was ruled out of the tournament with a dislocated shoulder.

[43][44] On 16 July 2020, Richardson was named in a 26-man preliminary squad of players to begin training ahead of a possible tour to England following the COVID-19 pandemic.

[45][46] On 14 August 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed that the fixtures would be taking place, with Richardson included in the touring party.