The South Australia opener was not pleased with how his innings ended at Cricket Central, Sydney. Batting on 142, Weatherald found himself in an awkward position trying to avoid a short delivery by Jake Scott, but the ball struck him and flew towards Kurtis Patterson at first slip.

The umpire raised his finger without much thought, leaving Weatherald surprised and furious, with replays confirming the ball hit his chest.

Weatherald makes statement century after Australia axing

Before his unfortunate dismissal, the 32-year-old batter sent the Australian selectors a reminder of his calibre with a fiery hundred, which came off just 97 deliveries. Weatherald looked in fine touch from the get-go, taking 47 balls to reach fifty before reaching three figures with a six.

None of the other top-six batters managed 20, as South Australia fell to 159-5, but that didn't affect Weatherald as he continued to smash the NSW bowling attack, which included Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, and Nathan Lyon. His knock powered South Australia to 325, with the next best score being registered by No.9 Noah McFadyen (43).

South Australia took a crucial 121-run lead in the first innings, but NSW responded well in the second, covering that deficit with nine wickets in hand. Sam Konstas was batting unbeaten on 93 at the time of writing.

This was Weatherald’s first century since his axing from the Australian Test side. It also ended a torrid run of form that saw him score 99 runs from five innings in the first three games of the Sheffield Shield. With the uncertainty around the Australian top order, Weatherald has thrown his hat in the ring with this performance.

His last appearance for Australia was in the Darwin Test defeat against Bangladesh in August, where he made 23 & 0, and was dropped for the second. He played six Tests since making his debut during the Ashes last November, and managed just 224 runs at an average of 20.36 with a solitary fifty.

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.