Updated ,first published
Darwin: As Travis Head committed to opening the batting throughout Australia’s strenuous next 12 months of Test series, his opening partner Jake Weatherald has admitted he won’t last long at the other end without hometown runs against Bangladesh.
Former opener Matt Renshaw was part of the extended 19-man training squad ahead of this week’s first Test, and the plain-speaking Weatherald was frank about his prospects should he not make a couple of notable scores in the top end.
Allrounders Beau Webster and Cameron Green are likely to play together this week after both played key roles at Australia’s main training session, which was brought forward to give the fast bowlers more recovery time from Darwin’s heat. Josh Inglis would then miss out.
Josh Hazlewood appears to be shading Scott Boland for the third pace bowling spot.
Mark Waugh has been one seasoned judge to state that Weatherald must make the top order spot his own after a patchy debut series in last summer’s Ashes, and while a recent stint in county cricket helped the left-hander iron out some technical issues exposed by England, the proof will be in the run-scoring in Darwin and Mackay.
“With someone like Mark Waugh saying that, he’s probably just stating the obvious isn’t he, to be fair,” Weatherald said on Monday. “You are required to make runs all the time when you’re out there, and I’ve got a good opportunity to play two games hopefully and make some runs. If I don’t do that, then yeah I put my fate in someone else’s hands and I haven’t done enough.
“It’s a challenge when people you respect say things about your batting, or your game. You’re naturally always looking for affirmation, and people to respect what you’re doing, but at the same time it’s a part of cricket.
“I understand now it’s just a part of the game I’m playing, but it’s a great challenge as well. That’s what makes Test cricket so hard, you’re in the spotlight, you need to do a lot of things, not just make runs. If you can do it all, it makes for a good career.”
As a former Territorian who moved to South Australia and then Tasmania to earn his chance in Tests, Weatherald is everywhere this week, from promotional posters and media rounds to a growing group of fans wandering around Darwin in skull caps to mimic his shaved head.
“I won’t hide away from the fact it’s always nerve-wracking to play for your country, but I’m just excited to get out there and try to put on a bit of a show,” he said. “It’s such a big thing for the Territory to have a Territorian play … it’s not just for me, it’s for everyone else too.”
Full deliveries at the stumps got Weatherald into trouble against England, but a fruitful county stint (483 runs at 60.37 with a century in six games for Leicestershire) gave him a chance to tighten up.
“There’s been a few tinkerings, hopefully someone sees it,” he said. “It feels completely different, but everyone says I’m pretty similar, which is sort of what I wanted.
“I tried to understand what I was really good at and do well in first-class cricket, and what I can improve on what I did in the Ashes to make a better game plan overall. I think I’ve done that, so I’m pretty pumped to go out there and show that.
“The conditions were very conducive to improving my technique, getting the ball straighter and hitting the stumps a lot more. So it was a great learning curve for me.”
Head, meanwhile, has advised Weatherald not to think too much about high expectations this week. As a state and national teammate, Head is hopeful of the partnership enduring beyond this series, into what are likely to be bruising encounters with South Africa, New Zealand, India and England.
“Sometimes playing the better countries, you sit there with expectations going into a Test and say ‘I just hope I get through it’ sometimes,” Head said. “Then you may come up against a team like Bangladesh with the week they’ve had and the expectation of ‘I really expect myself to get runs’.
“That’s sometimes the hardest place to be, when you go out there expecting to, because the game is brutal. So it’s just about tempering expectations around the next little period.”
Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald has confirmed a reduced role for assistant coach Dan Vettori, following the New Zealander’s increased role for the Sunrisers Hyderabad network of franchise teams.
“I think there’s choice in the marketplace,” he said. “There’s a market for players and there’ clearly. market for coaches. Dan’s explored that market and we’ve been able to balance that out with him doing some great work with us, so long may that continue.”
Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.