Weatherald signs County Championship deal with Warwickshire for 2027
The opener, who was recently dropped from Australia's Test team, will play in the "early stages" of the season
Jake Weatherald, the opener recently dropped from Australia's Test team, will play for Warwickshire in the early stages of the 2027 County Championship season ahead of next summer's Ashes series.
Weatherald, 31, made his international debut in the first Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series but was dropped by Australia this week after scores of 0 and 23 in their shock defeat to Bangladesh left his average at 20.36 after six Tests. He has been replaced by Matt Renshaw, who is set to open the batting with Travis Head in Saturday's second Test in Mackay.
Weatherald played county cricket for the first time earlier this year, making 483 runs at 60.37 in nine innings for Leicestershire. He will return to the Midlands next summer and spend the "early stages" of the Championship season based at Edgbaston, Warwickshire said in a club statement on Wednesday.
"I'm thrilled to be joining Warwickshire for the 2027 season. Edgbaston is one of the great grounds in world cricket and the opportunity to represent such a prestigious county was something I couldn't pass up," Weatherald said.
"I enjoyed playing in England this year so to have the opportunity to join the Bears ahead of the Ashes is really exciting. Warwickshire has a proud history and a talented squad, and I'm looking forward to contributing both on and off the field."
James Thomas, Warwickshire's performance director, said: "Jake is a player we've admired for a long time. He is a proven performer who has scored heavily at the highest level and gives us additional strength at the top of the order.
"He scored runs for Leicestershire summer and will be eager to come back to England and impress ahead of the Ashes next year. We think he will be a fantastic fit for our dressing room and an exciting player for our members and supporters to watch."
The trend of English counties signing Australian overseas players immediately before the Ashes series often provokes controversy, since reciprocal opportunities for English players in overseas first-class cricket are minimal.
During last winter's Ashes, Ben Stokes said: "It is odd when you see touring teams or players get given opportunities to play county cricket before a big series. I've never really understood it. You never see it anywhere else in the world. I don't think Australia would sign a visa for one of our lads coming over and playing Sheffield Shield games before an Ashes."
Warwickshire may also bring back Beau Webster next summer, who said after his stint this season that he considers the club his "second home" and that he hoped to return in future.
Their overseas players for the Championship run-in this season are India's Manav Suthar (who will arrive after their Test series in Sri Lanka) and New Zealand's Will Young. They sit third in Division One, five points behind leaders Nottinghamshire, though will be without the injured Sam Hain (knee) against Sussex this week.
They recently lost the services of the experienced left-arm seamer Keith Barker, who has retired with immediate effect, but announced two-year contract extensions for George Garton, Vansh Jani, Zen Malik and Rob Yates earlier this week.