Craig White

For the guitarist, see Craig White (guitarist).

Craig White

Source: [1], 22 June 2005

Craig White (born December 16, 1969, Morley Hall, Yorkshire) is a cricketer.

White was brought up in Australia, but later moved back to England, his country of birth, where he became Yorkshire's first-ever overseas signing. At the time Yorkshire still operated a policy of only employing cricketers born in Yorkshire, even though English counties could play up to two overseas players if they wished. Having played in Australia, White was not initially qualified to play for England when he returned. This led to Yorkshire listing him as an overseas player.

At the start of his career, White was an all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled right-arm off spin. In his 20s, he changed his style to become a fast bowler after doubts were raised about the purity of his spin bowling action.

When Raymond Illingworth became the new Chairman of Selectors for the English cricket team in 1994, he wanted the England team to contain an all-rounder who could bat at number 6 and bowl first-change. He selected his fellow Yorkshireman White for this role much to the surprise of many media pundits and fans. By this time, White had been playing in England long enough to qualify for the national team and he made his Test debut against New Zealand. His performances were inconsistent and he was dropped after 8 matches.

In 2000, he suffered a mystery blackout, waking up to find himself in a gutter in Scarborough. The incident suddenly revitalised him as a cricketer, and his county performances earned him a recall to the England team for the series against the West Indies. He had a successful series contributing useful runs from numbers 7 and 8 and becoming an important member of the pace bowling attack. His bowling had improved to such an extent that he was capable of using reverse swing and reaching speeds of 90mph from a short run-up. He has bowled the quickest ball that an Englishman has ever bowled at 97mph.

He played well on subsequent tours to the subcontinent with his most notable achievements being 93 against Pakistan at Lahore in 2000 and 121 against India at Ahmedabad in 2001. The latter performance was his one and only Test century. His 30th and final Test match was against Australia in the 4th Test of the 2002-03 Ashes series. An injury to his side prevented him playing in the 5th Test, but he later recovered to play in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, his last appearances for the national team.

After the World Cup, bowling-related injuries began to take their toll on White and he re-invented himself as a specialist batsman for Yorkshire. Always an aggressive shot maker, keen to hook and drive the quicks and hit the spinners into the deep, he added greater depth and consistency to his game. In 2004, White was appointed captain of Yorkshire, and in 2005 led them to promotion from Division Two of the County Championship. However, he resigned as captain at the end of the 2006 season having helped them to avoid relegation.

In 265 first class matches, up to the end of 2006, he has scored 11949 runs at 32.91 with a best of 186 while his 341 list A one day games have brought him 8933 runs at 26.56 with a best of 148. He has taken 395 first class wickets at the healthy average of 28.47 with a best of 8/55 with another 337 scalps in the one day game at an excellent 25.02 with a best of 5 for 19.

Trivia

• Craig White's sister is married to the former Australian international cricketer Darren Lehmann who played together with White at Yorkshire for a number of years.

External links

• Craig White at ESPNcricinfo