Recent data on short fatigue crack growth in two cast and hot isostatically pressed (hipped) aluminum alloys obtained by Shyam, Allison and Jones have been analyzed in terms of a previously proposed one-parameter short crack model which includes consideration of elastic–plastic effects, the Kitagawa effect and the development of crack closure in the wake of a newly formed crack. The material constants obtained in a prior investigation of short crack growth behavior in a cast aluminum alloy tested under fully reversed loading were used as a basis for the present analysis. The predicted rates of fatigue crack propagation are in accord with the experimental results. In the discussion, aspects of the two-parameter approach presented by Shyam et al. are compared with those of the one-parameter method of analysis used herein.