Usually speaking, when you are a 31 year old and have found a place not too long ago in the national cricketing side of your country, you tend to generally think about two things, in particular.
Your first thought is to factor in a key realisation that with plenty of young talent around, you’d not like to let go of a great chance to contribute now that the opportunity has come your way. And second, is to cater to the first thought by chipping in with useful runs. However, in a certain Jake Weatherald’s case, the second part, i.e., run making hasn’t quite happened.
At least, not as of now! Is this a lame criticism of a talented batter who’s already scored nearly 6,300 first class runs and is actually inching closer to his hundredth game in that format of competition?
Truth be told, anything but! Perhaps it helps to understand why his Australian Test side have come to a decision that Jake Weatherald will not be considered or played in the next, i.e., second test against Bangladesh.
And the case clearly points to a big absence and that is about the clear lack of runs.
How’s that?
Not only has Jake Weatherald apparently struggled in the recent test match where playing at his home ground at Darwin, he managed just 23 and 0, his overall Test career doesn’t seem to pack quite the punch that would excite anyone who’s specifically an ardent fan of Australia.
Recently, when Australia so desperately needed runs with only Steven Smith and Cam Green being able to assert themselves on the spinners and medium pacers alike, Weatherald as the opener missed out big time. It doesn’t help when you manage a score of naught with the team needing big runs, as seen in the case of the 31-year-old in the second innings.
Moreover, that’s not all; from 12 innings on the whole, from 6 Test matches, Weatherald has only managed 224 runs with just 1 fifty to his name.
So what does that imply where it stands at the moment for Cricket Australia?
They’ve called back Matt Renshaw for the next immediate test in a desperate bid to get some runs up the order. While Weatherald will have to bide his time for now, it’s time for Renshaw to chip in with what could be useful contributions that are being urgently sought right now! Renshaw has 14 Tests against his name and still has a lot to contribute to Australian Cricket!