Jake Weatherald is on the precipice of Test selection in an Ashes series, but his chance may never have come if not for his wife.
Weatherald rose to prominence as a dynamic left-handed opener for South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers.
He announced himself on the big stage with a blistering century in the 2018 BBL final, guiding the Strikers to their first title.
Consistent domestic form saw him earn Australia A selection and inclusion in extended Australian squads across formats.
Now, with strong early-season runs and red-ball pedigree, Weatherald has pushed himself into contention for an Ashes debut this summer.
But the road to the edge of Test selection has not been easy for the 30-year-old, who revealed that his wife Rachel Pearce motivated him back from the brink of mental health issues.
Jake Weatherald credits wife Rachel Pearce for helping him overcome severe mental health battles and revive his cricket career
After two mental health breaks, Weatherald says his wife’s support kept him alive and fuelled his return to cricket
The Adelaide Strikers star admits he went a month without leaving home during his lowest point in 2020
‘She’s basically the reason why I’m here probably. I went through periods of my life where I didn’t want to be here anymore,’ Weatherald told News Corp.
‘She was the only person that allowed me to cling to something that I knew was going to get better.
‘She was the direct reason why I got better. She was the identifier. She was the one that sat there and said, ‘look Jake, this is not a cricket thing. This is a psychological thing that you’ve got issues here you need to deal with.’
‘I’ll be eternally grateful for that for her. She’s had to put up with a lot in her 15 years with me so far so I owe it all to her really.’
At the height of his mental health struggles, Jake Weatherald went a month without stepping outside his home in 2020.
Overwhelmed by crippling anxiety and a deep sense of loneliness and worthlessness, the Adelaide Strikers star stepped away from cricket, unsure if he would ever return to the game he loved.
It was the second break he had taken from the sport and now Weatherald said he wants to speak out to help others also battling similar experiences.
‘My value in life was quite low. The way I viewed myself was in a pretty bad way. I was closer to retiring than everyone probably thinks I was and I was closer to … yeah, no, doing something that I would regret now a lot too,’ Weatherald said.
Weatherald has shared his struggles to inspire others, urging men to seek help for mental health challenges
Now in peak form, he’s scoring big runs and pushing for an Ashes call-up this summer
‘I’m an advocate for being transparent. The experiences I go through, they’re my experiences.
‘They’re not something I hide away from. I’ve been through that and I’m a better person and a healthier person because of it.
‘Being able to hear someone else’s story can benefit what you’re going through and I think what I’ve learnt is it’s just a stage of life and the truth is you can’t control your thoughts all the time, but what you can do is if you see the right people it will get better.
‘There’s such a high rate of suicide within men in Australia, it’s one of the leading killers in younger men, but there are things out there that can help you get better. Just because you’re mentally unwell, it’s not going to stay that way forever.’
Now, after clobbering 183 runs for Australia following a 2024 season where he was the Sheffield Shield top scorer, Weatherald is not a smoky for The Ashes – he is a genuine chance.
A difficult tour of the West Indies means Sam Konstas is no certainty for The Ashes series and national selection chair George Bailey said Weatherald is ‘well in the mix’.
It means the two could effectively be locked into a shootout for an opener’s spot in the opening rounds of the Shield.
‘The start of a domestic summer is always critical, given where the Test series always starts there always tends to be three, four, five rounds of Shield cricket,’ Bailey said.
‘Performances in the early rounds of Shield cricket always puts your name up in lights and always helps your team off to a good start.
‘That’s critically important and I don’t think that will be anything different this year, (but) clearly there will be some players where it’s about purely performing and putting as many runs and taking as many wickets as they can.
‘For some who are already in the Test team, striking that balance right to make sure they’re actually performance ready … that’ll be important too.’
