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Australia opener at 31: The Jake Weatherald dream that didn't have an expiry date

Soumyajit Dutta

Jake Weatherald [Source: @CricketTimesHQ/X.com]Jake Weatherald [Source: @CricketTimesHQ/X.com]

For a long time, the story of Jake Weatherald was one of what might have been. A talented left-hander who could thrill crowds, but whose journey was marked by pauses, setbacks, and quiet battles far from the bright lights of the Baggy Green.

Jake Weatherald stepped away from cricket twice for his mental health. He was dropped by his state side. By the time he moved to Tasmania ahead of the 2024/25 season, at 30 years old, many had written the final chapter on his international dreams. The career seemingly over for the 'brute'.

“My belief in myself was always quite high. I felt as though if I could string a couple of good years together… I'd be able to put my name up for selection,” Weatherald would later say to SEN WA Breakfast, with a quiet conviction that now makes perfect sense.

Weatherald meets the guy in the mirror

Jake Weatherald was the top scorer in Sheffield Shield 2024/25 [Source: CricketTimesHQ/X.com]Jake Weatherald was the top scorer in Sheffield Shield 2024/25 [Source: CricketTimesHQ/X.com]

And string them together he did. For Tasmania, Weatherald was more about finding his true self in the mirror. He topped the Sheffield Shield run charts with 906 runs at an average of 50.33, quietly hammering on a locked door.

He saw an opening, first with David Warner’s retirement, then with a spot up for grabs. “It sort of just all opened up,” he iterated, simplifying what was a decade of grinding work.

His Test debut in Perth was a nervy, low-scoring affair, a duck and 23 in an Australian win. It was a start, but not necessarily a statement. The real answer, the salt and pepper on the cob of that unshakeable belief, came at the Gabba.

Walking out to open with Travis Head in the ongoing pink-ball Test, the pressure was immense. This was his chance to move from ‘debutant’ to ‘Test opener’ and it was a flourish for the Tasmanian. Twelve crisp boundaries and a six raced off his bat, his strike rate buzzing at 92.31. 

Weatherald handled the English pace well, and laid the foundation for Australia’s 6-wicket lost 370+ commanding total at the end of Day 2.

One swing for every doubt

On December 5 in Brisbane, every click of the bat with the ball was a reply to every doubt he ever faced standing at the third decade of his life, a reward for every day he kept going.

“It did at times feel like it was a long way away. But cricket's one of those things where if you can find a formula… you definitely can break in. It took me 10 years to get there,” Jake admitted.

Now, Australian Test player No. 473 isn’t looking back. The hunger that got him here is now focused on staying. “I'm going to be here as long as I possibly can be. My hunger to play Test cricket's going to be there for a long time," Weatherald confessed.

As of now, whether Jake Weatherald finds his permanent home as an Australian opener remains a point to discuss yet, but his story is a reminder that dreams don’t always have a sell-by date. Jake is the orchestrator of his own dream as he opened a new chapter of his cricketing career, one he always believed was his to write.