Joe Weatherley and the promise of tomorrow

SAM MORSHEAD AT EDGBASTON: Ultimately, Weatherley's contribution proved to be in vain, as Somerset recovered from 34 for 5 to chase down 151, but the Hampshire man's 2021 white-ball sign-off showed plenty of potential

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At first, it looked as if Joe Weatherley was simply refusing to walk.

The Hampshire middle-order batsman had skied a catch to the legside but instead of dragging himself back to the dressing rooms he marched to the other end of the wicket, exchanged a punch of the gloves with his partner Liam Dawson and began barking in the direction of umpires Mike Burns and Graham Lloyd.

Nodding his head vigorously and waving towards the Hollies Stand, Weatherley was pointing out to the officials, and Somerset captain Lewis Gregory, the fielding discretion that neither umpires nor opposition had noticed: Somerset had a man too many outside the inner ring. It was a no ball. Weatherley must be spared.

It takes quite some presence of mind for a batsman to be in that much control of their environment, in the heat of a major occasion. It’s not the first time such a series of events has been seen in professional cricket - Eoin Morgan against Australia in 2014 comes to mind - but it is certainly rare.

That Weatherley was in the frame of mind to analyse a field and process that information so quickly, at a time when he was carrying the weight of Hampshire’s hopes of reaching the Blast final on his shoulders - speaks to how he felt about his form with the bat.

And for a man with little T20 pedigree before this season, a man for whom two Hundred drafts have passed by without so much as a whiff of a scent of a contract, that form bodes incredibly well for 2022 and beyond.

Ultimately, Weatherley’s contribution proved to be in vain, as Somerset recovered from 34 for 5 to chase down Hampshre’s 150 for 9 with two wickets and two balls to spare, but the Hampshire man’s 2021 white-ball sign-off showed tremendous promise at the end of a breakthrough campaign in the short format.

^{Joe Weatherley made 71 as Hampshire lost to Somerset}

Weatherley had not been a regular member of the Hampshire T20 side until last season. 

He made 11 appearances for the county in the format between 2016 and 2020 but this year the 24-year-old Winchestrian has featured in all bar two of Hampshire’s 15 outings. 

And, without him, their T20 campaign would have looked rather different.

When Gloucestershire came to visit the Ageas Bowl on July 2, Hampshire’s T20 season already seemed to be run: a single victory from their first nine games - the majority of which had been played away from home - leaving them left to play the role of the mule in the National. 

Yet a remarkable run of six straight wins, all at home, turned the term around, and Weatherley played an important role in most.

An even 50 from 35 balls teed up comfortable success over Somerset, a flurry of 24 from 12 completed a handsome chase of Sussex Sharks’ 184, 30 from 24 anchored the innings against Gloucestershire and then there was the simply ludicrous 43 from 13 balls against Glamorgan, in a game which Hampshire had to win in double-quick time to reach the knockout stages of the competition.

While James Vince was collecting the headlines, down the order Weatherley was making sure there was enough glue holding the rest of the side together, all the while scoring at a strike rate over 140.

It is no wonder that his teammates value him highly.

“He’s been a real find,” leg-spinner Mason Crane told The Cricketer in the build-up to Finals Day.

“He’s not played regularly or consistently in our T20 team before this year. A day like Finals Day is where he can really make a name for himself.”

And so, on county cricket’s biggest stage, when his teammates were busy fluffing their lines, Weatherley stood up again.

^{Weatherley's score was his career best in T20}

Hampshire, batting first on a slightly tired pitch at Edgbaston - understandable given the weight of work asked of it in 2021 - slumped to 26 for 3 inside the powerplay, with their most potent weapon, Vince, one of the wickets to fall. 

Against a Somerset line-up stacked with plenty of batting clout, it was an ominous situation, but Weatherley set about the task with endeavour.

Favouring the slog-sweep on bended knee - his second ball was picked up with little more than a flick of the wrists over backward square leg - Weatherley found rhythm where the rest of the Hawks’ side had been clattering around like drunks in a cupboard.

One of back-to-back sixes against the searing 90mph right-arm whiplash of Marchant de Lange was so regal its biopic is rumoured to be in Netflix pre-production, while the spin of Roleof de Merwe and Lewis Goldsworthy offered little to ruffle Weatherley’s feathers.

He put on 39 with Liam Dawson to stabilise the crumbling innings and then played the leading role with five other partners to drag Hampshire to 150 for 9. 

When he eventually fell for 71, his career-best, caught by Tom Abell off De Lange, he had moved Hampshire from peril through respectability and into the realms of competitiveness. 

Sure, in the end it was not quite enough to put Hampshire into their first Blast final since 2012. Of course, talking about The Hundred draft is not the done thing on T20 Finals Day. 

But this is the highest-profile shop window for domestic players left ahead of The Hundred redraft over the winter, and Weatherley has made sure the flashing neon light is pointing to his name at just the right time.