13 years ago, Cameron White arrived on the cricketing stage as a promising young cricketer whose positive and aggressive style with the bat and ball led to many believing he could be a great of the future.
These opinions were made even stronger when he became Victoria’s youngest-ever captain at the age of 20 and furthered again when he debuted two years later against the ICC World XI.
However, as many young players found during the 2000s, with a formidable Australian team came limited opportunity and for Cameron White it seemed it was a case of wrong time, wrong place.
Now, after a number of ODIs, four Test matches and a slight opportunity as T20 skipper, Cameron White has eventually found his place as a solid, tactical, aggressive and unique limited overs cricketer whose 2013/2014 season has provided him with another opportunity and a World Cup in sight.
Cameron is still just 30 years of age and has plenty of experience, making him a temptation for the selectors.
More importantly, it has been the rise in the man as both a cricket character and person who has improved his cricket and finally helped him get on track to reach his stunning potential.
This year Cameron started the season as captain of both the Bushrangers and Melbourne Stars but it was his Ryobi Cup form in October which has led to national recognition.
In the competition he scored five half centuries in just six matches at an average of 77 and a strike rate of 88.
Impressive statistics starting off the season saw him deservingly win the Ryobi Cup player of the series award.
The concern with White was however his ability to consistently perform in the limited over games under pressure and on the international stage.
However, if the two recent T20’s are any indication of his form, he is a force to be reckoned with.
White has composed scores of 75 and 58* to guide Australia to comfortable victories, scoring at a strike rate of over 150.00 making him the key candidate to win the player of the series.
As the selectors look towards the World Cup, the experience and tactical knowledge Cameron possesses will give him a slight advantage over the youth, but it will be these consistent performances at the top level that will decide if Cameron White will play in the 2014 World Cup in Bangladesh.
If he does, can he reach his potential as a limited overs cricketer?
cwrigh13
Guest
Agreed.
Marcus Halberstram
Guest
It is late in the day for him to have a breakthrough shield season, if that is what he is having (not so much age wise but more opinions are well formed about him). He is getting a lot of starts and getting our 60/70 odd in Shield. We already have young guys who can do that. He just does not have a strong conventional game. His one day game comes from flat decks and swinging hard at the ball. I'd keep him in the T20 team and probably the 50 over game neither of these teams mean much to me.
Ruminate
Roar Guru
In the shield this year he is one of the leading run scores with 556 runs at an average of 50.54 so is getting runs in the long format. If this continues he could be a number 6 option, albeit an unlikely one. Agree with you that he should bowl more, and I think he needed to get more tutoring from someone like Warne or Jenner when he was younger. His bowling arm has always seemed to close to the vertical in comparison to other leggies for mine. Also, as good a captain as he's been, I don't think that it helped his personal cricket game in that he seemed conscious of being selfless, maybe that's an outcome of being captain of the Vic team so young? Certainly he is an astute tactician. As you say, he is only 30 and certainly has something to offer in the short form of the game.
Will Taylor
Roar Guru
Some good points you make there, it seems as though now he has cleared his head and knows where he is going with his cricket. Clearly he wont make the test team anymore, but there are still big opportunities in the shorter form of the game for him and thats why I think it is important for him to take this opportunity with the form he is in, to therefore still re-estbalish himself as one of Australias quality limited overs cricketers.
jammel
Guest
White's always had a few problems - can he make a big score in longer forms of the game, is he just a hitter, can he rotate the strike, why isn't he bowling more? I think White would have benefited say 7-8 years ago if he continued to apply himself on bowling, and also made a few more big runs in the Shield. It is about putting together back to back big scores really - otherwise he is likely to just be thought of as an ODI and t20 player who can field a bit, bat a bit and bowl a bit. e.g. the predecessor to Maxwell!