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“He’ll smack it”, Vaughan said after Weatherald’s consistent Sheffield Shield form for Tassie was rewarded with inclusion in the 15-man Test squad for the Ashes. Weatherald waited by the phone on Tuesday, his 31st birthday, for a call from selector George Bailey but it didn’t arrive until the Wednesday morning. Bailey repeated himself when he lauded Weatherald at the squad announcement, praising how the opener scores his runs. Vaughan agreed with Bailey and said if England offers a ball to drive, pull or cut in the opening over on November 21 – it will go to the fence. “I think (Weatherald’s strike rate) is just a sign of a quality player, he doesn’t go out and try and score at a better strike rate than other players just because,” Vaughan said. “I think it’s just a sign that he’s in a wonderful head space and he’s technically very sound, tactically on top of his game. “He plays the situation and if he feels as though there’s a ball to drive or pull or cut, he’ll smack it. “It’s not a conscious thing to do it above anything else, it’s consciously how he plays … if it’s a cover drive, he smacks it. If it’s a forward defence, he’ll defend it.” Weatherald is now a veteran of Australian domestic cricket after making his First Class debut for South Australia against NSW in 2016. The left-hander crunched 58 off 83 balls in his first innings and 23 off 19 in the second. But Weatherald has endured tough times between then and Australian selection, detailing at times his battles with mental health around his move to Tasmania. Vaughan said there was no secret formula to Weatherald’s success but just a player who has made the most of his opportunities when set at the crease. “I don’t think a lot has changed, we play a fickle game at times, sometimes you can miss out and that puts spots in jeopardy,” he said. “He’s just gone through a game last week in Melbourne and missed out, got two really good balls and was unlucky to be in such good form to nick them. “It happens, it happens in our game, some of our bowlers bowl incredibly well and don’t get the wickets. “But in recent times, he’s got full reward and when he has got in he’s made big scores. “He still misses out like every other player on the planet, but when he does get in he’s one of those guys who does get big scores and makes them at a good rate. “It sets games up or helps the team that he’s in win games of cricket, we heard halfway through training there.”
