Jake Weatherald the ‘future of Australian cricket’ – Brett Lee
Weatherald is not yet 24. He is a left-handed top-order batsman from South Australia. And while his numbers aren’t quite enough to knock the door down yet, Brett Lee has seen enough to call him ‘the future of Australian cricket’.
In the absence of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, all serving bans, and injured pacemen Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, Australia handed debuts to three players – Aaron Finch, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in Dubai for the ongoing first Test against Pakistan.
Who after them? Anyone to keep an eye out on, Lee was asked during a chat with RSN Breakfast Club, and he picked Billy Stanlake, the giant paceman, and Weatherald as the two players to watch out for.
On Stanlake, who has already played six one-day internationals and 12 Twenty20 Internationals, Lee said, “He would definitely play a lot more cricket for Australia this summer.”
Jake Weatherald's numbers
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | Best | 100s/50s |
| First-class | 25 | 1669 | 35.51 | 152 | 3/10 |
| List A | 20 | 882 | 46.42 | 141 | 4/3 |
| Twenty20 | 19 | 500 | 26.31 | 115 | 1/4 |
But then he turned to the recent One-Day Cup match in Sydney between South Australia and Queensland, where Weatherald struck a 54-ball 69 against Stanlake and others in a losing cause.
“Jake Weatherald. Now, remember that name. He will definitely play cricket for Australia at some stage. I hope it’s this season,” said Lee.
“Left-handed batsman, takes on the quicks – yes, he took down Billy Stanlake, he hit balls off his nose that were like hook shots, out of the stadium at North Sydney Oval. This guy’s a freak. Twenty-three years of age – Jake Weatherald, he is the future of Australian cricket.”
Weatherald was particularly impressive against Stanlake in that game as the paceman was sent for 79 runs in his nine overs in what was a high-scoring game.
The young batsman has still not put up really big numbers in what has been a short career so far, but he has shown the appetite for runs, with three centuries in first-class cricket, and three-digit scores in List A as well as T20 cricket already.