South Australia batter Jake Weatherald takes break from cricket

Jake Weatherald in action for South Australia [Source: Twitter]

South Australian batter Jake Weatherald is taking a break from cricket due to mental health reasons, and will not take part in any cricket this season. Weatherald slammed a hundred in his last Sheffield Shield match for the Redbacks in December.

The decision was announced by SACA sports medicine manager John Porter. The 28-year-old played in the recently concluded Big Bash League 2022-23 without much success for the Adelaide Strikers. 

The left-handed batter scored just 18 runs in four BBL matches before suffering an injury. Despite regaining fitness, he did not feature for the Strikers for the rest of the tournament. 

Here's what Porter said

"Jake is taking leave from the game at the moment to work on his mental health and wellbeing and he'll be unavailable for the rest of the season."

Weatherald has played 60 First-Class matches, scoring 3,837 runs with nine centuries and 19 fifties since 2016. He had earlier taken some time off cricket back in 2020 as well. 

The batter has also played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for Quetta Gladiators. 

SA expects the top-order batter to return for next season, and are already gearing up to resume Shield action against Western Australia on Friday. 

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