Strikers opener Jake Weatherald vows to pile on more BBL runs to prove his Twenty20 World Cup worth
Star Adelaide Strikers opening batsman Jake Weatherald wants to keep piling on the runs in the hope of forcing his way into Twenty20 World Cup contention for Australia.
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He’s ‘down the pecking order’ behind big dogs David Warner and Aaron Finch but Adelaide Strikers opener Jake Weatherald is occupying the selection shopfront in a Twenty20 World Cup year.
Weatherald is BBL’s leading opener this season with 266 runs at a 151 strike rate bettered only by superstars Glenn Maxwell (165) and Chris Lynn (161).
Left-hander Weatherald has been on a roll since posting a career-best 198 in his Redbacks’ record 293-run Sheffield Shield opening stand with Henry Hunt against Tasmania in November at Adelaide Oval.
“To make runs across formats is pretty cool and shows you are a good player when you can adjust your game,” said Weatherald ahead of fourth-placed Adelaide’s clash against winless Melbourne Renegades on Sunday.
Weatherald is Adelaide’s leading run scorer with Alex Carey this summer – ranked third in the competition aggregate behind Melbourne Stars allrounder Marcus Stoinis (331) and Thunder skipper Callum Ferguson (288).
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Warner, Australian skipper Finch and D’Arcy Short are Australia’s frontline opening options ahead of October’s T20 World Cup.
Emerging keeper-batsman Josh Philippe and Weatherald add to dynamic opening T20 options enjoyed by Trevor Hohn’s national selection panel.
“It is great, if you know you have performed consistently for your team you can perform at a higher level, get rewarded. My job is to get the team off to a flyer and take advantage of the power play,” he said.
“It is pretty tough for me being an opener, I am a fair way down the pecking order, but (it’s) good to be noticed.”
English opener Phil Salt is struggling for momentum with 104 runs at 14 while No. 3 Matt Short has toiled for 62 at 10.
Weatherald backed Salt to emulate his crisp hitting for Sussex in the second half of the BBL campaign.
“He played a really good innings against the Renegades (54, 26 balls) on a pretty terrible wicket and outfield. He does well in England for a reason,” noted Weatherald.
“He has got to the point he has in his career by picking the right ball to go.
“You don’t want to say too much to him because if we can both get off to an absolute flyer we are going to be pretty hard to stop.”
Keeper-batsman Carey will miss four games on one-day duty in India leaving Weatherald to carry the scoring load with returning Test vice-captain Travis Head and middle-order rock Jono Wells.
“It has been a good season for me and Kez so far, so it is a loss, but getting Travis Head is a big in,” said Weatherald.