“How you going Chich?”
“Nice shot Chich!”
“Hey Chich, can we switch nets?”
That’s the gist of the chatter towards Jake Weatherald at Australian training.
What’s the deal with this nickname for the Aussie Test opener, playing a Test this week in his long-time base of Adelaide?
“I think he came up with it,” Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey starts trying to explain.
“He got married in Italy, and I think he thought it meant brother in Italian, but it doesn’t, I don’t think. Very, very random. I think it’s not true.”
A quick Google search for a non-Italian speaker suggests this may have been bastardised from “ciccio,” which can be used as a term of endearment.
Carey suggests that the moniker for Weatherald took hold during the 31-year-old’s Test debut in Perth last month.
Steve Smith is known among teammates and Australian staff to be like a dog with a bone when it comes to nicknames, and this was no exception.
“You know what Smudge (Smith) is like,” Carey says.
‘As soon as he hears something he jumps on the back of it. So, yeah, whoever bats with (Weatherald) in the middle just calls him that.”
Nickname origin stories would be relatable for just about everyone who has ever played organised team sport, particularly cricket, where there is plenty of time to cultivate such labels.
They tend to reflect a level of familiarity and comfort between players, and according to Carey – a longtime former domestic and Big Bash League teammate of Weatherald – this is no exception.
The opener has earrings, a sleeve tattoo and some out-there fashion choices, but has been welcomed into the fold in the Aussie camp.
“He’s obviously fitted in really well,” Carey said.
“He’s unique. Wears his certain clothes that he likes to wear. He’s just really confident around the group, which is great.
“It feels like he’s been with us for a long time, which is not the case. It’s only been a few weeks. So yeah, boys are loving how he’s gone about it, loving the energy he brings. He works really hard.”
Weatherald tamed England’s quicks in the first innings at the Gabba, showing a fearlessness that Carey has noticed in the nets.
“I think the one thing he does do is always face his bowlers in the nets, and doesn’t face any of the sticks (sidearms). So I think we saw him in Perth as well. He was the first guy to jump in against Starcy (Mitchell Starc) and Cummo (Pat Cummins) was bowling fast, and (Brendan) Doggett, whereas most of the guys were probably hanging back a little bit. He’s straight in there against the quick bowlers,” Carey said.
“It’s something I really admire. We’ve seen him face fast bowling. He thrives on that. So that’s one thing he does do, is he only faces bowlers in the nets.”
Strictly speaking, Weatherald is no longer a South Australian player, having moved to Tasmania a couple of seasons ago. He is also not a pure SA product, having grown up in Darwin before moving to Adelaide in his teens.
And yet as he prepares to open the batting with former SA and Adelaide Strikers partner-in crime Travis Head in an Adelaide Oval Ashes Test, Weatherald is set to be welcomed to the city where his wife Rachel still lives despite her husband’s move to Tassie. He is a prodigal son made good.
