Cameron White - why?

[deeps]

Ponting clearly has no faith in him as a bowler - often neglecting him completely, sometimes bowling him after part timers etc. So this leads me to believe he is in the team for his batting ability alone.

In tests, he has bowled 93 overs in 8 innings, for a whopping 5 wickets at an average of 68.50 - Hardly a part time bowler (Simon Katich for example, averages 29.61)

Batting wise - he has scored a total of 146 runs over 7 innings at an average of 29.20 (boosted by 2 not outs) and a highest score of 46. Hardly batsman material either.

Now, granted, he has only played 4 tests, so it's not fair to judge him on that.

Even at first class level though, he averages 41.93 with the bat, which is certainly respectable, and 39.58 with the ball, which is reasonable again, but not that special. Did he even deserve his spot in the test team?

Now, moving to his supposed strength, the One day game. In 28 ODI's, he is yet to manage a single 50 - registering a highest score of only 45 at an average of 24.23. Bowling wise, he has bowled some 54 overs (just 2 overs per game - hardly all rounder stuff) and has 11 wickets at 31.36 - which are reasonable figures


Now, considering he bowls minimal overs, doesn't have spectacular bowling or batting stats, why is he in the team? Surely there are far more accomplished batsman in Australian domestic cricket, who can also roll their arm occasionally?It would seem he's in the team as a batsman, who can bowl say 10 -15 overs in a test, or 3 overs in an ODI.

I don't understand why he is always in the mix...

 

[Craig]

Australia's bits-and-pieces cricketer? Yes IMO.

 

[DaRick]

I don't understand why he is always in the mix...

Nor do I, TBH. Although he could've been worse in India, he shouldn't have been in the side. He didn't contribute that much. He's also done little of worth in ODI's, which is surprising, given the fact that he can certainly hit the ball and has an OK ODD record.

 

[iamdavid]

The main reason the selectors rate him so highly is the false perception he's an allrounder....which is not true imo, he's a middle order batsman who bowls part-time legspin.

I really think the selectors just don't know his game very well, almost asif they base picking him on the media/fan hype that he's an allrounder and huge hitter. So they pick him at number 7 in ODI's, where they want a batting allrounder who can come in and score quickly from the word go...that's not Cameron White.

I remember pointing this out in another thread recenty. He is a huge hitter of the ball I agknowledge that, however he's always done his best work when he gets himself set and chews up plenty of deliveries before unleashing. Note his strike-rate for Victoria is below 75 despite the rep as a quick scorer. He's far more suited to batting at 4 or 5 (where he bats for the Bushrangers) in one day cricket. There he has the time to establish himself before cutting loose, however there are far more worthy candidates to bat there for Australia in ODI's.
Batting at seven and having to score quickly from ball one isn't really his game I feel.

He may well deserve a spot in the ODI side batting higher up the list latter on in his career, however atm he dosen't and picking him at seven isn't gonna work.

 

[Flem274*]

I think he's crap, but he hasn't been given a fair go. If they're going to use him, bat him in the top five (which I doubt he'd ever make anyway) and let him be a batsman, which he is, not some slogger that bowls a few overs.

 

[Migara]

Ask from SL selectors: Why Mubarak / Upul Tharanga in the team? you'll find enough excuses to have White there.

 

[Nate]

He's not only part of the Australian side, but part of the leadership team.

 

[andyc]

Did he even deserve his spot in the test team?

Can't say I've ever seen anyone argue that he did, tbh

 

[Evermind]

The England team is currently carrying about 5 Cameron Whites. Australian fans should consider themselves lucky they only have one to worry about.

White > Bopara.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Now, moving to his supposed strength, the One day game. In 28 ODI's, he is yet to manage a single 50 - registering a highest score of only 45 at an average of 24.23. Bowling wise, he has bowled some 54 overs (just 2 overs per game - hardly all rounder stuff) and has 11 wickets at 31.36 - which are reasonable figures

Now, considering he bowls minimal overs, doesn't have spectacular bowling or batting stats, why is he in the team? Surely there are far more accomplished batsman in Australian domestic cricket, who can also roll their arm occasionally?It would seem he's in the team as a batsman, who can bowl say 10 -15 overs in a test, or 3 overs in an ODI.

I don't understand why he is always in the mix...

I'm not the biggest fan of White - but I'm actually NOT going to bag him here.

You realise he bats at number 7 in the ODIs - rarely does he have the chance to face enough balls to make a 50 (thanks to the Hussey brothers piddling it round in the middle overs for about 5 overs too many...)
White's job in the ODI side is to come in late in the innings and swing the bat hard. He has a career SR of 95 - so let's assume that he's doing his job eh?
If he's a batsman, why bat at number 7? Well, that is Haddins "spot" - but since Haddin can open, why not have a big hitter down there for 'acceleration purposes'?

I'm not sure exactly who else we could bring in to fill the 'big hitters role' at this stage.

In terms of his actual strength - it's not ODIs, it's T20s.
And he has 2 domestic level centuries in that format, averages 34 and strikes at 151 (that's really good.)
When he gets to the international scene, again he's down the order at 7, and so hasn't batter enough for his average to be a fair reflection (it's 43 - but half of the time he's not out). But, significantly he strikes at 161.

My question is: if you didn't expect White to bowl, would you be so disappointed in him?
I think he does his job as a batsman reasonably well - and, like I said, I don't really like the guy.

Oh - and to the original post - you spent a lot of time outlining his test and FC stats - but White isn't in the running for a test spot, that experiment failed - so why bother highlighting them for us? His input is in the shorter forms of the game.

Interesting that White's domestic level T20 stats are arguably better than Hodge's - whom many regard as the 'best T20 batsman in the world'...

 

[Debris]

I can't blame Ponting for not bowling White. His bowling has degraded to such a point where it is barely grade standard.

He is probably in the side because he is a 'power' hitter.

 

[gettingbetter]

White shouldn't be any where near the Test side unless he does what Steve Waugh did - concentrate on his batting. As for ODIs, I think he has been a little bit wasted. He bats at 4/5 for Victoria and there is no doubt that he is one of the better 50/50 batsman in the country. Him coming in at number 7/8 isn't helping him.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

TBF to White, since 2006 he averages 45.54 in purely FC cricket, so he is and has been improving with the bat as he's ignored his bowling.

 

[chaminda_00]

As good as White is as a batsmen. I hard to really see how he is in the top 6-7 batsmen in Australia. Though considering Ferguson is basically next in line and picked on potential. There isn't that many OD batsmen under say 25 that look close to International standard. Warner, Ferguson, White and maybe Hughes are about it. The rest are all in their late 20s, which isn''t bad. But you don't want to be going through a changing of the guard every world cup.

 

[Flem274*]

Didn't know White was under 25.

 

[deeps]

I'm not the biggest fan of White - but I'm actually NOT going to bag him here.

You realise he bats at number 7 in the ODIs - rarely does he have the chance to face enough balls to make a 50 (thanks to the Hussey brothers piddling it round in the middle overs for about 5 overs too many...)
White's job in the ODI side is to come in late in the innings and swing the bat hard. He has a career SR of 95 - so let's assume that he's doing his job eh?

Hardly - Any reasonably attacking batsman can come in at 7 and swing the bat and get a SR of over 95. And just how many games has he actually turned on it's head with his 'power hitting' I can't remember one game where he has actually done anything remotely interesting with the bat. A guy like Afridi is always being ridiclued, but at least he has won countless games with good hitting at the end.

If he's a batsman, why bat at number 7? Well, that is Haddins "spot" - but since Haddin can open, why not have a big hitter down there for 'acceleration purposes'?

Because he doesn't do a good job of that either? In domestic cricket, he only becomes a power hitter when he's been batting for a while and well settled. Any good batsman can come in and make 20 runs at a SR of 95ish. Hussey, Hayden, Marsh could all do it, and there are countless players in domestic cricket that can also do it.

In terms of his actual strength - it's not ODIs, it's T20s.
And he has 2 domestic level centuries in that format, averages 34 and strikes at 151 (that's really good.)
When he gets to the international scene, again he's down the order at 7, and so hasn't batter enough for his average to be a fair reflection (it's 43 - but half of the time he's not out). But, significantly he strikes at 161.

I agree, there is merit to him in the T20 side.

My question is: if you didn't expect White to bowl, would you be so disappointed in him?
I think he does his job as a batsman reasonably well - and, like I said, I don't really like the guy.

Because there are far better batsman out there, yet they persist with this clown.

Oh - and to the original post - you spent a lot of time outlining his test and FC stats - but White isn't in the running for a test spot, that experiment failed - so why bother highlighting them for us? His input is in the shorter forms of the game.

Interesting that White's domestic level T20 stats are arguably better than Hodge's - whom many regard as the 'best T20 batsman in the world'...

I looked at both Test and ODI figures. I don't have a problem with him in T20.. It's a joke of a game anwyay, and any first class cricketer can do ok in a T20 - as shown by the IPL.

 

[Trumpers_Ghost]

Don't really want to defend White because his output has been ordinary, except in 20-20 games.

But when considereing the Qty of games he's "played" about 10 or so were as the "super sub" where he didn't bat, hardly bowled, and maybe fielded for 10 overs.

In the games he's played he's batted 7 or even 8. probably only has had 5 or so genuine chances to make a 50.

And besides if there was other power hitting middle order batsman with a better bowling pettigry, then they should get the **** off their Brisbane bar stool and get in the team.

 

[NUFAN]

Regarding his 31.36 ODI bowling average exclude his games against Bangladesh and look at his records against the better teams, it's not good at all.

 

[Jono]

A guy like Afridi is always being ridiclued, but at least he has won countless games with good hitting at the end.

Man, you really do like Afridi don't you.

 

[Uppercut]

Why, it's probably because he's so good in ICC 2008.