Cameron White

Cameron Leon White (born 18 August 1983) is an Australian former international cricketer who captained the national side in Twenty20 Internationals. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victoria cricket team as a bowling all-rounder. During his time with Australia, White won the 2009 ICC...

Cameron Leon White (born 18 August 1983) is an Australian former international cricketer who captained the national side in Twenty20 Internationals. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victoria cricket team as a bowling all-rounder. During his time with Australia, White won the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. In 2003–04, he became Victoria's youngest ever captain at the age of 20 when he took over leadership of their one-day side, and the first-class captaincy followed the season after. International recognition came for the first time in 2005, but White found himself in and out of the side as the selectors and national captain Ricky Ponting looked for White to improve his bowling to play as a front-line spinner. Two successful winters with English county side Somerset helped to propel White back into the selectors' minds. White had a short Test career playing four Test matches in 2008. His tenure as T20 captain ended with the 2012 series against India where he was dropped following poor form in the Big Bash League. He was succeeded by Melbourne Stars teammate George Bailey. His nickname of "Bear" is due to his purported resemblance to the polar bear mascot of Bundaberg Rum. White retired from professional cricket in August 2020. Career Early career White began his cricket career working his way through the youth structure at Victoria, playing in the Commonwealth Bank Under-17, and later Under-19 Championship series. He showed his prowess with both bat and ball during these competitions, claiming a century, two half-centuries and 17 wickets in the ten matches he played over two seasons. He tended to bat as part of the middle order and bowl as third or fourth change. His first-class debut came in March 2001, aged 17, against New South Wales. Batting at number nine, White scored 11 runs in his only batting inning of the match, and claimed 4/65 coming on as third change bowler. He made one further first-class appearance that season before joining up with the Australian Under-19 cricket team for two youth tests against Sri Lanka. He captained the AIS Australia Cricket Academy side that toured New Zealand, beating the New Zealand Academy side 3–1 in a four-match one-day series, after a pair of draws in two three-day matches. Soon after, he made his List A debut for Victoria, but the match was rained off after 42.1 overs without White taking any part in the match. White received his first senior man of the match award a few days later for his two wickets and score of 91 batting at number seven during the Pura Cup match against South Australia. He was named as captain of the Australian Under-19 squad to compete in the 2002 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, and led his team to victory in the competition, beating South Africa by seven wickets in the final. White finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 423 runs, with two of the other top-four batsmen also being Australian. Despite his success with the bat during the Under-19 World Cup, Victoria continued to use White as a bowling all-rounder, a decision that seemed to be justified in the 2002–03 season when White passed 50 just once in his 13 first-class innings and claimed 28 wickets. In his last match of the season, he claimed his maiden five-wicket haul and ten-wicket haul, taking 6/66 in the first-innings against Western Australia and 4/70 in the second-innings to help Victoria to a 10 wicket victory. Youngest ever captain Following a season which had seen Darren Berry and Shane Warne share the captaincy of Victoria's ING Cup side, the Victoria selectors appointed White as the captain for the 2003–04 season. Aged only 20, White became the youngest player to captain the Victoria state side in its 152-year history to that point. His coach, David Hookes, said that "White has shown at a young age a successful understanding of captaining a team". The decision was supported by the reports that during the Under-19 World Cup, he captained the side with "flair, control and maturity far beyond his years". White was also called upon to captain the first-class side early in the 2003–04 season, after regular captain Berry broke his finger during a practice match. After a win and a loss while captaining the ING Cup side, White was named man of the match on his debut as Pura Cup captain, taking six wickets to lead Victoria to a five wicket victory over Queensland. White was given his first taste of international cricket in December 2003. Having taken four Indian wickets during a tour match for Victoria, White was selected to play for Australia A against the same opposition later in the tour. Batting at number six in an Australian side that also included Victoria teammate Brad Hodge, and was captained by Michael Hussey, White made little impression on the Indians, making just 20 runs in his two innings and taking no wickets. White retained his place in the A side to face Zimbabwe in two 50-over contests, claiming two wickets. The 2003–04 season saw White's batting improve markedly in first-class cricket but he tore some ligaments in his right leg, therefore ending his 2003–04 season. A return of five half-centuries in eighteen innings saw his season average finish in excess of 30 for the first time. He also claimed 30 wickets in the season, the most in a single season in his career to date, although his average suffered compared with the previous season, rising to over 35. A couple of cameo innings also indicated what was to come, 58 runs off 65 balls against Western Australia, and 75 runs off 97 balls against South Australia, an innings that included 7 fours and 3 sixes, showcased the strengths that would later see White shine in the shorter Twenty20 format of the game. These improvements in White's game, and an injury to Stuart MacGill, saw White named as part of the 13-man Australia Test squad to tour Zimbabwe. With the Australia selectors keen to take two spinners on the tour, MacGill's injury allowed them to select White "with a view to the future." A tour match against Zimbabwe A brought a wicket for White, but he was denied the chance of making his Test debut when the two-match series was called off due to disputes between the Zimbabwe cricket board and their rebel players. White described the decision as a missed opportunity "to see how everything went and how an international Test match is played". The 2003–04 season had been capped by victory in the Pura Cup following a 321 victory over Queensland in the final, in which White made a half-century and claimed five of the oppositions wickets. Victoria captain Berry retired from professional cricket after the triumph, and White was named as his replacement for 2004–05. White was pleased with the appointment, saying that the captaincy "brings out the best in my game and the extra responsibility is good for me". In December 2004, White made his maiden first-class century, making 119 after Victoria were forced to follow-on against Queensland. His partnership of 205 with Ian Harvey, a record seventh-wicket partnership for Victoria, and 152 from opener Jason Arnberger helped Victoria recover to a second-innings total of 508/8 declared. A fine bowling performance then saw Queensland bowled out for just 169, capping a "remarkable fightback" by Victoria. International breakthrough During his early career, parallels were drawn Victoria teammate Shane Warne; both were blonde, and both were leg-spinners. It was soon apparent that he did not have the ability to turn the ball as much as Warne, his style being described as more reminiscent of Anil Kumble instead. Midway through the 2004–05 season, White played four matches for Australia A against the touring West Indians and Pakistanis. Three 50-over matches brought him two half-centuries and a duck, and his first experience of Twenty20 cricket resulted in an unbeaten 58 with a strike rate over 150. Victoria did not qualify for either Pura Cup or ING Cup finals, but White's improvement was again significant; his first-class averages remained roughly the same as in the previous season, but he more than doubled his previous best season batting average in one-day cricket, passing 30 in the format. After his impressive form for Australia A during January 2005, White was selected as part of the Australia A side to tour Pakistan in September that year. After claiming four wickets, and averaging 35.50 with the bat in the 2 four-day matches, White shone in the subsequent one-day games. Not required to bat in the first, he then scored 106 not out in the second and 59 not out in the third, also claiming a tail-end wicket. Having now demonstrated his ability as a big-hitting all-rounder, White was selected to make his international debut during the 2005 ICC Super Series against the ICC World XI. Shaun Pollock, captaining the World XI team, said that his batsmen would target the young leg-spinner, but Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he expected White to bowl, after he'd "handled things well in the Victoria game against them". He was named as supersub in the first two matches, being on field only during the ICC World XI innings, therefore being unable to bat. He did not bowl in the first match, and only bowled three wicket-less overs in the second. Despite controversy regarding the official status of the matches, these two appearances as supersub signified White's first two One Day International (ODI) appearances. He started the third match, but as Australia closed their innings on 293/5, White was again not required to bat, nor did he bowl in the following ICC World XI innings. White was named as a bowling supersub again for the first ODI of the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy, replacing Katich at the start of the New Zealand innings. He bowled one wicket-less over, conceding four runs. After missing out on the second match, White returned for the third, getting the opportunity to bat for the first time. He was dismissed for a golden duck, falling to Chris Martin first ball. In the New Zealand innings, he claimed his first senior international wicket, bowling Hamish Marshall. International contract not renewed 2005–06 was the first season that Twenty20 cricket was played domestically in Australia, and White with his Victoria team were the quickest to adapt to the new format. White earned a man of the match award in his first match in the tournament, scoring 45 runs off 32 balls and claiming a single wicket. Two wickets followed in the second match, and a second victory granted Victoria a place in the final. Facing New South Wales in the final, White added 46 off 16 balls, scoring at almost three runs a ball. He claimed 3/8 in the following innings, helping to restrict New South Wales to 140, giving Victoria the championship title. White finished the tournament with 99 runs, second only to Brad Hodge, and 6 wickets, trailing only Shane Harwood, both Victoria teammates. In April 2006, White joined up with English county side Somerset for the first match of the County Championship. After Somerset were forced to follow-on by Gloucestershire, White came in at number five and scored 172 runs off 228 balls before finally being caught off the bowling of former Victoria teammate Ian Harvey. Despite this innings, Somerset only managed a team total of 287, and lost the match by an innings and seven runs. Two weeks later, on 1 May, Cricket Australia announced that along with James Hopes and Mick Lewis, Cameron White's national contract would not be renewed for the next 12 months. When Somerset captain Ian Blackwell suffered a shoulder injury that put him out of the game for three months, White was named as his replacement. As with Australia Under-19s and Victoria, the added responsibility seemed to improve his game. A score of 109* against Glamorgan in the 50-over Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy was followed i