Jake Weatherald is enjoying his return to South Australia, finding a fresh perspective after his time in the Australian set up.
He played an important role in South Australia's seven-run victory over Tasmania in his side's first home match of the season. Batting at number three, Weatherald smashed 92 against his former team.
“It's good to actually come back and play some white ball cricket, I haven’t played in a little while,” Weatherald said.
“It was a bit different batting at three and sort of trying to control the middle of the game… but my form feels good, I feel like I could go through the gears quite well, so I was pretty happy.”
His return to South Australia has also brought a greater sense of perspective, following his time in the Australian team and playing for Tasmania.
Weatherald said being back in South Australia has also allowed him to spend more time with his wife and family, which has helped take some of the stress away, allowing him to enjoy his cricket.
“It's one of the reasons why I came back to South Australia, to get around my family and be able to go home after a game of cricket and see my wife and my dog… it sort of takes a lot of the stress away” he said.
“Hopefully over time, it pays dividends and I get back to the Australian team because I'm happier and I'm enjoying my cricket”.
Weatherald’s time in the Australian setup also provided valuable lessons about dealing with the scrutiny that comes with playing at the highest level.
He admitted that maintaining consistency in his own preparation could be difficult amid the level of analysis and talk surrounding the national team.
“For me, that was probably the hardest part about it,” he said.
“To have legends talking about your batting, it is a pinch me moment to have that, but also it makes it quite hard to shut it out.” he said.
Weatherald believes he is now in a better position to deal with the pressure, should another opportunity come his way.
“I feel like I dealt with it quite well from a mental point of view, but at the same time, I needed to learn and adapt in my game and get better,” he said.
“My game's in a really good place and I've found ways to get back into teams and do really well, so from my point of view, I feel like I’m in a really good space to do it”.
While getting back in the Australian team remains the goal, Weatherald's immediate focus is continuing to contribute for South Australia.
That was evident in his performance against Tasmania, where his side were able to survive a tense finish.
“We found a way to win, which is what good teams do,” he said.
“Very exciting to actually be a part of a winning side, and have that result.”
Since his return to South Australia, Weatherald has been impressed with the standards within the state setup, especially the bowling group and their constant desire to improve, crediting head coach Ryan Harris with driving that mentality.
“They just believe they can be better every time they bowl and do things a lot better.
Which is fascinating for me because I'm sitting there going, you know, they're really good at their job… but they're also just trying to learn and get better all the time, and that's obviously driven from Rhino.”
Weatherald also highlighted the relatively fresh batting group’s ability to score over 380 runs as a major positive from the opening home match.
“We’ve got quite new batting group at the moment and we've found ways to make 380, which is quite good,”
“We’ve gelled quite well”.
South Australia will take on Victoria at Junction Oval on October 12.