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Australian batter Jake Weatherald shared his struggles with the pressures of sport, including failure and external opinions, which consumed him. Weatherald said he was "obsessed with getting better."
Australia has announced its team for the first Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series against England, starting on November 21. Weatherald's inclusion was the biggest surprise as chief selector George Bailey announced the squad on Wednesday. "In sport, there's so much failure and so many opinions about what goes on and so many things you can't control. I was completely consumed by that, and when you go through certain things - I have OCD, and I was obsessed with getting better," Jake Weatherald said as quoted from Fox Cricket. "But I was obsessed with everyone else as well, what everyone else thought. And when you're already negatively geared, it just didn't make a great concoction for trying to be a professional athlete and trying to enjoy yourself. I wasn't the best human going around (in 2020), I didn't feel that happy about myself," Weatherald added. Weatherald may partner with regular opener Usman Khawaja at the top of Australia's batting order for the first Test of the summer against England in Perth. Weatherald recalled receiving calm and reassuring advice from George Bailey, who encouraged him to stick to his game plan and not change his approach. Bailey expressed trust in Weatherald's abilities, telling him to be ready to put pressure on the bowlers, which helped him manage his nerves and focus on performing. "I tried to play it as cool as possible, but I was absolutely screaming in my head. But he said 'we like the way you go about it, your record suggests you're going really well, everything's moving well, we feel as though you can put pressure on the bowlers and we like that, we don't want you to do anything different, just be ready to go'. He was clear they trust I have the game to hopefully perform," Weatherald concluded. Weatherald was the top-scorer of the Sheffield Shield 2024/25 with 906 runs in 10 matches and 18 innings at an average of 50.33, with three centuries and three fifties. This year, Weatherald has scored 248 runs from three Sheffield Shield matches, with three half-centuries at an average of 41.33. Australia will take on England in the opening fixtures of the Ashes on November 21 in Perth. Steve Smith will lead the side as Pat Cummins is not in the team due to injury. Australia's First Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster. (ANI)
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