Fair-haired and level-headed, Cameron White has long seemed destined to play a significant role for Australia. At the start of his career it was hard to know whether he would develop into a nagging legspinner, aggressive middle-order bat, intuitive skipper, or a bit of all three. After being tried as a Test leggie in India in 2008, he developed into a destructive stroke-maker in the shorter formats, and his maturity was recognised in his appointment as Australia's Twenty20 vice-captain.

Just as White's flame appeared to be going out at international level, he burst to life in 2009. An ODI fill-in for Ricky Ponting at No.3, he scored 105 against England in an innings that provided satisfaction and resulted in immense self-belief. Another century came against Pakistan at home and he has also delivered some brutal Twenty20 innings, including 64 off 26 balls against New Zealand and 85 from 49 against Sri Lanka. But as his batting has fired, his bowling has been virtually non-existent.

White first emerged as a peculiarly unAustralian-style legspinner, tall and robust, relying on changes of pace and a handy wrong'un rather than prodigious turn or flight. He would even start a spell with an offspinner or quicker ball. The retirement of Brad Hogg in early 2008 opened up an ODI spin position and White was given the first chance to secure the role. He even won a call-up to the Test squad in India when Victoria's first-choice leggie Bryce McGain went down with a shoulder injury. Despite his discomfort at being the No. 1 spinner, he held firm on debut while facing the best players of slow bowling in the business. As the series wore on it became clear he was not the answer to Australia's troubles and after four matches he was shifted aside with five wickets and 146 runs. It was time to try again as a batsman.

Back in Victoria he was under pressure following a strange performance in the FR Cup final defeat to Queensland, but he re-loaded with 135 in the 2008-09 Sheffield Shield final against the same side and was relieved to lift the trophy after a series of near misses. He wasn't picked for Australia's engagements in the United Arab Emirates and the World Twenty20, but turned into a must-have once rejoining the outfit in England.

What has not been in doubt is his cricket sense. Captaining Victoria in 2003-04 at the age of 20, the youngest skipper in their history, he won rave reviews for his cool head and warm handling of more hardened contemporaries. For all that, he remains a largely unassuming country lad. Picked to tour Zimbabwe when Stuart MacGill withdrew for moral reasons, White cancelled a fishing trip to attend the press conference then boyishly shrugged aside questions about the circumstances of his selection. He was chosen as much for his no-frills batting as his bowling; David Hookes, the late Victorian coach, felt White's best chance of representing Australia was to earn a top-six spot. So it has proved.

Until 2008, it had been only White's batting that had been of any real value on the international scene. Playing eight CB Series games in 2006-07, he started by showing his impressive muscle, thumping a 32-ball 45 in the second match, but he was unable to offer a repeat until he crashed 42 from 19 deliveries in the Chappell-Hadlee Series. Between those innings he had been dropped for the tri-series finals and missed the World Cup squad, mainly because his bowling was unconvincing. After finishing the season with the Bushrangers, capturing 437 Pura Cup runs at 39.72 and nine wickets at 49.77, he held on to his Cricket Australia contract before heading to England for more plunder at Somerset. A productive 2007-08 domestic season brought him back into the national frame. Although his six Pura Cup wickets cost 47 each, he scored 748 runs at 49.86 and guided Victoria into the first-class, one-day and Twenty20 finals.

As far back as December 2002 his hero Shane Warne had predicted: "I think he's a [future] Australian player provided he sticks to the way he plays and doesn't try to be someone different." White made his limited-overs debut during the Super Series a year after missing a first Test cap when Nathan Hauritz was preferred in India. He had little impact and lost his national deal after a below-average Pura Cup season in 2005-06. White had a wonderful 2006 as Somerset's captain, giving the strongest indication yet that he was focusing heavily on his batting. He feasted on the county bowlers, scoring 1190 first-class runs at 59.5 and his 55-ball Twenty20 century was a record. That led him into a better home summer that featured Pura Cup and FR Cup centuries, although he was sometimes criticised for not taking enough bowling responsibility. As a cricketer, he has been hard to define until now.
Cricinfo staff July 2010