Striker Jake Weatherald opens up on mental health battles, reveals how he plans to help others

Adelaide Strikers star Jake Weatherald has opened up on his mental health battles and revealed how he and his wife, Rachel, are planning to help others lead better lives, writes Andrew Capel.

Jake Weatherald sank so low during the dark days with his mental health battles that he didn’t leave his house for a month.

Struck by shocking anxiety and feelings of loneliness and worthlessness, the star Adelaide Strikers cricketer temporarily pulled the pin on the game he loves and wondered whether he would ever play again.

“I didn’t want to leave my house or be a part of society,’’ Weatherald said of the lowest point of his life four years ago.

“I felt that I had let a lot of people down (by not playing) and that I wasn’t really needed in this world.

“It was a really low moment in my life and there were a lot of things going on in my mind that I couldn’t answer.

“At the time the professional part (cricket) of my life, although it was going well, just didn’t make any sense.

Jake Weatherald with his wife, Rachel Pearce. Picture: Ben Clark

“I still loved the game – my anxiety didn’t come from cricket – but it got to the point of not wanting to continue my career, which is something I’d worked my whole life for.

“If I hadn’t got the help that I desperately needed through (wife) Rachel and the SACA (South Australian Cricket Association), I’m not sure where I’d be.’’

After taking a mental health break from cricket soon after making a superb 105 for the SA men’s side in a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at Karen Rolton Oval, Weatherald returned to the game.

But his mental health demons again got the better of him two years later and he made himself unavailable for the second half of the 2022-23 season, despite feeling that cricket was his “sanctuary’’.

Throughout it all, his then partner and now wife, Rachel Pearce, was his rock and greatest supporter.

She saw signs that Weatherald, who has an obsessive approach to his cricket and has spent the past two seasons playing first-class cricket for Tasmania after opting for a “fresh start’’, was struggling with his anxiety before he did.

Jake Weatherald in action for the Adelaide Strikers. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

“Rachel acted as my barometer,’’ Weatherald, 30, said.

“She actually called it before I could understand what was happening myself.

“She would pick it up through words I was saying and if I was being negative about myself she’d calm me.’’

But Weatherald’s battles weren’t easy on her either.

“It’s been a tough journey watching Jake have to go through this,’’ Rachel said.

“I would pick up the signs that he was struggling, things like him starting to lose interest in the things that he loved.

“Cricket was becoming really hard and challenging for him to turn up to, even just sitting out the back at home having a wine, he didn’t want to do that anymore.

“There was also the staying in bed for long periods, shutting all the blinds and not wanting to go out and see friends and be a part of the world.’’

SACA helped Weatherald – a dashing, left-handed batter who has played 67 first-class matches for SA and Tasmania, making 4302 runs at an average of 34.69 – get back on his feet by organising support through psychologists and psychiatrists.

Jake Weatherald drives for four for the Adelaide Strikers against the Sydney Thunder at Canberra’s Manuka Oval last week. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Jake Weatherald celebrates scoring a century for South Australia against Victoria at Adelaide Oval in 2022. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

And Rachel also felt compelled to act.

A physiotherapist, she became frustrated at how difficult it was for people to access the health care support they needed.

So she did something about it, starting a website business, Allied AU, that connects allied health professionals to the public.

“The mission is to improve accessibility to allied health practitioners all over Australia because at the moment some people, in some areas, are waiting up to 18 months to see a speech pathologist, there are skills shortages for occupational therapists, there can be a three-to-six month wait to see a psychologist and some psychologists aren’t accepting new patients at all,’’ she said.

“Jake was the inspiration for me to set up this health program because he really struggled to find the right match with a psychologist, someone that he could trust, and it was a really difficult time for me to watch from the sidelines, so I decided to do something about it.’’

Jake Weatherald and his wife, Rachel Pearce, have joined forces to help people suffering with their mental health. Picture: Ben Clark

The hero of the Strikers’ sole BBL title when he thrashed 115 off 70 balls in the final of BBL07 against the Hobart Hurricanes, Weatherald said he was proud of Rachel for doing something to help the community.

He is acting as an ambassador for Allied AU.

“It took me a long time to be able to access the help that I needed – I actually needed more support than I thought I did to get to the other side – but I’m there now and just so grateful to be in the position I’m in,’’ Weatherald said.

“I had to find the right fit, figure out ways to get better, how to continue my cricket career and how to contribute to society.

“I was privileged in my (professional cricket) environment that I was able to access people through SACA but it’s probably why Rachel has a better understanding of the rest of the world and how it works for the general person.’’

Rachel said her husband’s mental health had improved so much in recent times that it was “like night and day’’.

Jake Weatherald smacks a boundary for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in Hobart in 2022. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

“Jake’s an incredible person who obviously has had some real struggles with his mental health but after getting the help he needed it’s like an unfolding of a person, he is really soaring,’’ she said.

The Darwin-born Weatherald, who was once tipped as a future Australian Test opener and is the Strikers’ all-time leading BBL run scorer with 2101 prior to the start of BBL14, said he understands that life is full of ups and downs and that every person has issues to deal with, whether it be mental or physical.

But he has learnt how to cope with the rollercoaster ride.

“I feel that I can now have a hard day or hard moment in my life and figure out ways to get through it without catastrophising and feeling like you have to spend four days in bed type of thing,’’ he said.

“Mental health battles can be a common occurrence for people but they are nothing to be afraid of. What matters most is finding the right help to be able to deal with it.’’

Rachel can be contacted at [e-mail].