How Stokes tried to bait Weatherald before match-winning stand with Head

3 months ago 22

Jake Weatherald has spoken about how England’s players tried to wind him up at the start of his Ashes Test-winning stand with Travis Head in Perth, revealing his clever response to the banter.

Weatherald has also opened up on how plenty of fans told him exactly what they thought of him – bad and then good – over the two topsy-turvy days of his debut.

Jake Weatherald and Travis Head open the batting.

In a bizarre first Test for Weatherald, he had different opening partners in each innings – neither of whom were the incumbent Test opener Usman Khawaja – as the game hurtled to its conclusion.

After Khawaja’s bout of back spasms meant he could not open on day one, it was Marnus Labuschagne who went out with Weatherald, and the senior man let the debutant face Jofra Archer first up. Weatherald fell second-ball for a duck.

When he went out at the start of the second innings, this time accompanied by his former state captain Head, Weatherald was greeted by some good-natured but cheeky words from captain Ben Stokes and others, who at the time fancied their chances of defending 205. A confident talker, Weatherald’s riposte was met with English grins.

“It was pretty friendly. It was more about Marnus not taking the first ball with my first innings, which I agreed with,” Weatherald said.

“I was like ‘yeah, you’re right boys, he probably should have taken it for me’.

“It was all fun and games. I don’t think they were too worried about me to be fair, they were more worried about Heady and the rest of the boys coming in. Just a bit of casual stuff but nothing too vicious to be fair.”

There was also plenty of unsolicited feedback from members of the public over the two days, including one fan who offered a volley of abuse to Weatherald when he made his way back to the team hotel after day one.

“You get bits of both, good recognition and bad recognition, especially if you have a bad day,” Weatherald said. “This is the best part about playing Test cricket. You want to be in the limelight, doing things that people notice. That’s a part of playing for Australia, you want to represent your country the best way you possibly can.

“The people are emotional. After your first day, you walk away feeling a bit disappointed and a bit upset. People definitely let you know about it. At the same time when you contribute to a team winning, they’re there to back you up and get around you.

“It’s a cool thing to be a part of, the way you can ride the emotions of the Australian public and, obviously, you feel the real force of the English as well. I’m getting the best of both worlds, thankfully.”

While Weatherald relished his partnership with Head, which reduced the target by 75 runs in quick time and set the Australians on the path to an eight-wicket victory, he expects to be accompanied by Khawaja in Brisbane.

“To make a hundred when the highest score was just over 50, it’s an amazing skill to walk out there and shut out the external noise,” Weatherald said.

“The Barmy Army were very vocal. Two hundred felt a long way away, given we’d only made 140-odd in the first innings.

“It was one of those things the way (Head) walks out to bat and has complete freedom is something I envy a lot. It was something that gave me a lot of confidence at the other end. I’ve just got to commit to what I’m doing and it will be successful as well.”

Weatherald said he was not fazed by the sudden change of plans in each innings which resulted in Labuschagne then Head opening with him.

“I was excited to walk out with Heady, I knew it was a good opportunity for us to put some pressure back on straight away,” Weatherald said. “It’d be cool to go out with Uzzy, but I’m sure that will come in due time.”

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