Tim Paine has predicted a bright future for Tasmanian batter Jake Weatherald, believing "he could play for Australia" in the future.
The praise for Weatherald comes after the 29-year-old was shockingly omitted from the Tasmanian Sheffield Shield line-up after a successful late-BBL campaign with the Adelaide Strikers.
While he didn't have the best of start in the recent BBL competition, he scored impressive scores of 80, 47 and 56 to guide the Strikers into the finals.
An assistant coach at the Strikers, former Australia captain Tim Paine revealed his disappointment regarding his omission from the team and insisted he could very well play for Australia in the future.
โThere was one thing that disappointed me a bit with the squadโฆ I've just spent six weeks with the guy in Adelaide and there is no person in the country batting better than him right now,โ Paine said on SEN Tassieย of Weatherald.
โI said to him in Adelaide at the end of the BBL, from working with him and seeing him up close for the first time, he can do things that 95 per cent of Australian batters cannot do.
โHis talent is in the absolute top echelon of batters in this countryโฆ for him not to be in a first-class cricket team is wrong.
โI'm serious, he could play for Australia.โ
Before joining Tasmania, Weatherald was with South Australia and has scored 3878 first-class runs throughout his red-ball career with an average of 34.01. This includes nine 100s and 19 50s in 117 innings.
Get him in asap please https://t.co/nLcwyfSSZK
— Tim Paine (@tdpaine36) February 1, 2024