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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
Will Jake Weatherald keep his spot in the Australian side?
Sam Kosack • January 9th, 2026 6:37 pm
SEN’s Adam Collins is unsure if opener Jake Weatherald has done enough during the Ashes to hold his spot with a massive period of Test cricket on the horizon.
Weatherald made his Test debut in the first Ashes Test in Perth but failed to kick on to big scores throughout the series, only scoring over 50 once and 30 twice.
The 31-year-old finished the series with an average of 20.1, placing his position in the side under intense scrutiny with, over the next two years, home series coming up against Bangladesh and New Zealand, a likely World Test Championship final, and away series against South Africa, India, and England again.
Matt Renshaw is the key candidate to replace Weatherald should he be removed, though youth options including Sam Konstas, Campbell Kellaway, and Ollie Peake could loom as options.
Adam Collins examined the possibilities for Jake Weatherald, and assessed the likelihood that Weatherald maintains his position for Australia’s upcoming Test schedule.
“On the plus side for Jake (Weatherald), he's been part of four 50-plus partnerships, and they've got off to quick starts, he and Travis Head batting together,” Collins told SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“On the downside, he wasn't able to capitalise on a number of starts, and that's something that as an opener, they'll be keeping an eye on.
“Probably the biggest part of the Weatherald story right now is against high pace, so he was out to the short ball a number of times and he had his pad blown off a number of times, which suggests that when it was a yard quicker, that's when he met his level.
“So, what does that mean when they've got a trip to South Africa around the corner where it's probably the most challenging conditions against pace in the world… that'll be a consideration with Weatherald.
“I think now he needs to go back to the Sheffield Shield and make a case there again. I think that's the reality of the situation.
“The degree of security he'll enjoy due to his incumbency… being in the Australian bubble, having been immersed within the group, and having been part of a successful team, that's not completely irrelevant to it but they do have someone on the sidelines like Matt Renshaw, who’s having a great domestic season, got test experience, looks for all money like he's in the prime of his career right now, and has played for Australia around the world.
“That would be what I reckon they're deliberating, whether they stick with Weatherald… whether they make a call on him now, which would be harsh but I would understand… and pivot to someone like Renshaw, or indeed the third option there would be to go to youth.
“To go to youth in Campbell Kellaway, the Victorian who is clearly on the radar (and is a) precocious young talent, but I can't see them pulling that lever when he's untried at this level, accepting that the Test cricket ahead of Australia right now… (against) South Africa, India, and England with a world Test final spliced in there as well.
“That's what this side in part will be defined by. They always say… it's what they do away from home in the big series that people remember.
“This is a great opportunity for Pat Cummins and his crew… to have a real crack in India, to play a lot better in South Africa than the debacle of 2018, and then move on to England to try and win there in England outright for the first time in a quarter of a century.”
