JakeWeatherald

Darwin-born Jake Weatherald completed a remarkable turnaround at the beginning of the 2025-26 season when he won selection in Australia's first Ashes Test squad. Two seasons earlier, he had spent almost a full summer on the outer in his new state, Tasmania, after leaving South Australia following eight seasons of service.

The left-hander was rewarded for his patience. In 2024-25, he played every game for the Tigers and was the Shield's standout batter, scoring 906 runs at 50.33, to surge into Ashes contention.

Weatherald has showed he can dominate the short forms too, becoming the first player to score a hundred in a KFC BBL final with his match-winning knock for the Strikers against the Hurricanes in BBL|07.

The aggressive opener made his domestic debuts in all formats in 2016 and impressed immediately when he scored 66 and 96 in his first Sheffield Shield final in March that year at Glenelg. Within two years he was being hailed by pundits including former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee as a future international player. It took almost a decade for that prediction to materialise.

Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan and former Test opener Chris Rogers have been mentors to Weatherald, who has honed his game in the Australian winters by playing league cricket in the United Kingdom and in the Northern Territory for his junior club, Darwin CC.