Premier Cricket: Melbourne appoints Victorian great Cameron White as captain

Melbourne coach Adam Dale said the club was “incredibly excited’’ to lock in former Victorian champion Cameron White as captain.

Cameron White hitting out for the Renegades last season.

He captained Victoria. He captained Australia’s ODI and T20 teams. He captained the Melbourne Stars and other Twenty20 outfits.

And next season in Victorian Premier Cricket Cameron White will captain Melbourne.

The Demons confirmed his appointment today, with coach Adam Dale calling it “incredibly exciting’’ for the club.

The Vics overlooked their 135-match Sheffield Shield mainstay for a new contract for 2019-20 but he has come to terms with Adelaide Strikers to play in the Big Bash.

White, 35, will also play more regularly for Melbourne, whom he joined from Monash Tigers in 2016-17.

His big-cricket commitments have restricted him to five matches for the Demons (from four hands he’s averaging 101.5).

“Exciting, incredibly exciting, to have Cameron in the captaincy role,’’ Dale said this afternoon.

“He’s a committed Melbourne person and once all of the state and Big Bash discussions had occurred, the club and Cameron talked about it (the captaincy).

“We’ve been in regular conversation with him all the way through. As I said, he’s a committed and loyal Melbourne person. We might not have seen a lot of him but that’s because he’s been away playing for Victoria and Big Bash. Now that his situation has changed, we’ve got a great opportunity and he was really keen to get involved.’’

Cameron White batting for Monash Tigers in the 2014-15 Premier Cricket grand final.

Dale added: “Cameron played Test cricket, One Day cricket and T20 cricket for Australia, he captained Victoria in all the formats, he captained Australia in limited-overs cricket, played in T20 tournaments … he brings a world of experience and knowledge to the captaincy. He’s a world-class captain, a complete package. We’re just so delighted he’s able to commit to it.’’

In what turned out to be his last season with the Vics, White finished with more crowns than a dental surgery — he was part of the title-winning Sheffield Shield and one-day cup teams, as well as the Melbourne Renegades’ Big Bash success.

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The 2019-20 season will be White’s 20th in Premier Cricket.

He started at Dandenong at the age of 16 and played 50 matches for the Panthers before crossing to Monash Tigers in 2005-06.

In 100 innings in PC he’s made 3465 runs at an average of 40.29 — and on the pristine Albert Ground wicket he can be expected to make quite a few more.

Melbourne has missed the finals in the past two seasons but Dale said he was confident better times were ahead.

White replaces another star batsman, Matthew Brown.