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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

During his time with Australia, White won the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

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.

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.