Ex-international Cameron White retires from Victorian Premier Cricket

More than 20 years after his debut at Dandenong, the former Victorian captain is bowing out of club cricket.

Cameron White on the attack for Melbourne.

With no fuss or fanfare, former Victorian captain Cameron White has retired from Premier Cricket.

“Just let me slip off into the darkness,’’ White, 37, replied with a laugh as he confirmed the end of a long career that began at Dandenong more than 20 years ago.

The former Test player and Australian Twenty20 skipper has captained Melbourne for the past two seasons, in between fulfilling Big Bash League commitments with the Adelaide Strikers.

The Demons were awarded the premiership in 2019-20 after being judged the highest-qualified team when COVID-19 cut short the season.

From Bairnsdale in east Gippsland, White was 16 when he started in Premier Cricket in 1999-2000.

He played exactly 50 matches for the Panthers.

White more burst than arrived on the scene: in 2000-2001 he cracked two centuries and snaffled a hat-trick and was called up to the Victorian team late in the season. All this from a 17-year-old.

“White has a terrific cricket head on his shoulders,’’ Brendan McArdle wrote that season. “He has belief in himself, a fine awareness of situations and an analytical mind. He also has a good understanding of people and the mechanics of a team. He won’t be fazed by this early taste of big-time cricket.’’

Cameron White in the Dandenong cap at Shepley Oval.

White can clearly recall his hat-trick.

“Was that 6-6, wasn’t it?” he said this afternoon.

Indeed it was, against South Melbourne, off 6.1 overs, with former Test opener Wayne Phillips one of his victims.

“It was a fantastic thing, something really special for him,’’ Dandy captain Matty Lawrence said at stumps.

“He’s just a really smart kid. He’s always thinking about his cricket.’’

And his maiden century came against Northcote on a day when he shared a partnership of 219 with fellow Gippslander Tim Hooper at Shepley Oval.

Years later he’s thankful for Dandenong and Premier Cricket for giving him his start. By the time he finished he was a statesman of Victorian cricket.

“As I think back on it, I was probably a pretty traditional pathway sort of kid from the country,’’ he said.

“I came down and played Hatch (at Elsternwick) and then Dowling (Shield) at Dandenong, and then a couple of games in the threes and the twos and then into the ones.

“My time at Dandenong gave me the opportunity to play cricket for the next 20-odd years.

“Very grateful to a lot of people, including the Dandenong people who helped me out back in the day … the great and late Des Nolan took me under his wing a bit and showed me the ropes and looked after me and so did the Findlay family, Michael Findlay and his wife, Helen. They definitely looked after me, made my life easier.’’

Cameron White at the creases for Richmond.

Wanting to be closer to town, White crossed to Richmond in 2005-06 and was a Tiger for 48 matches and until 2015-16.

He joined Melbourne in 2016-17, playing 25 games across five seasons.

All up he had 123 matches, hit 3826 runs, with five centuries and 23 half-centuries, and took 138 wickets at 22.90, with a best of 7-132.

White said he enjoyed his time at all three clubs and playing Premier Cricket.

He said if he could change one thing, it would be for the club competition to use the same ball used in first-class cricket.

“It makes a huge difference in how the game’s played,’’ he said.

Melbourne coach Ben Vague lauded White’s contribution to the club.

“He had a profound impact on the playing group, in particular the firsts,’’ Vague said.

“He’s without doubt the best cricket brain I’ve come across in my time, and he’s helped our players develop their games significantly.

“Fergus O’Neill is probably a great example of someone who in such a short period of Cameron working with him has had real growth with his cricket.

“It’s going to be hard to replace him, impossible to replace him, but it does create opportunity for players he’d helped develop.’’

Batsman Blake Thomson, who captained the Demons when White was away from the club, appeals as his likely successor.

White is the only player Melbourne has lost since last season, although Vague said other clubs had targeted the Demons’ squad.

He said the Dees had good depth and would continue to “develop our players from within’’.