In-form White aims high

Cameron White would like to stay high up the order but is unlikely to hold his lofty spot at No. 4 when Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin return from injury. White has been in the best international form of his career since scoring a century as a replacement for Ricky Ponting in September and has also been promoted to vice-captain on the Twenty20 side.

White spent most of his time at six and seven during his first 29 ODIs, but has proved himself as a capable substitute since being called for the England tour, averaging 41.71 in 18 appearances. He has three half-centuries in the series against India, which Australia won on Sunday, and is continuing to impress after a number of false starts early in his career.

"I like to bat up the order if I can," White said in the Courier-Mail. "If I can get into my innings and bat later on that obviously works well. It is always good if you can have a bit of time before you get in to play those better shots. I think my best position is up around where I have been batting.

"Taking the opportunity has been the key. Ricky was rested and I got those two games up the top in England. There has been a spot for me through injury to Michael Clarke. I have enjoyed batting up there and taking the opportunity." The top-order openings should disappear when Clarke returns from a back injury while Haddin, who is coming back from finger surgery, has also been employed as an opener.

The power of White has been compared to that of Andrew Symonds, who also took a long time to feel comfortable in the Australian set-up. White knows his batting is not at the same level as Symonds', but believes they carry similar outlooks.

"Andrew Symonds was a great player, you can ask anyone that has played with him and he is one of the best," White said. "We probably display similar game styles in terms of batting with a power side to our game but it depends on the role I am called upon to play in any series."