Lacing up his boots and coming back to his roots - meet Sam Whiteman

A left-handed opening bat who skippered WA as they won the Sheffield Shield in 2023 and 2024, Whiteman was born in Doncaster but learned his cricket in Bunbury and Perth after his parents emigrated to Western Australia 30 years ago, when Sam was aged three.

Since then, Whiteman has become one of the most successful batsmen in the Sheffield Shield. Having made his debut in November 2012, he's made 17 hundreds and 34 fifties in his first class career, averaging 35.30. As he'd expressed an interest in playing for the county of his birth, Yorkshire, recognising his undoubted ability and experience, signed him before Christmas on a three year deal; better still, Whiteman holds a British passport and is not classified as an overseas player.

As he made his Yorkshire debut in Cardiff, head coach Anthony McGrath was also attracted to this Aussie-Tyke because of his success in T20 cricket; Whiteman won the Big Bash with Perth Scorchers in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

So, McGrath has signed a top-class bat who also benefitted from a season with Northants in 2023 which produced 719 runs (avge: 37.54) and two hundreds in Division One.

“Playing for Yorkshire is something I’ve always wanted to do. I think it’s the number one county. My dad and grandma still live in Doncaster and I’ve an extended family there. Each year, we’d come back for a holiday. It’s exciting to be here and my parents and grandparents are extremely proud. It’s funny how things work out.

“I’ve never been to Headingley before. It’s awesome and my first time was on Wednesday, and I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. I walked out onto the field and thought immediately of Ben Stokes and his great innings (135 not out) against Australia in 2019.

“The first team squad here is strong; the depth is good and young players like Finlay Bean, George Hill, Matt Revis, Will Luxton and James Wharton are coming through. There’s a mixture of senior players like Jonny Bairstow, Adam Lyth, Ben Coad and Jack White.

“Joe Root and Harry Brook are among the best in the world. They’ll play some Championship games and that’s great for county cricket because England players strengthen it. And Jonny can play a bit too. I love his passion and on Monday his presentation outlined how he wanted Yorkshire to go about our cricket this season.

“The experience of playing for Northants will help me in the early games and, therefore, I’ll be able to adjust more quickly than I did in 2023.”

Naturally, during the disastrous Ashes series (4-1 to Australia), Whiteman took a keen interest, so was he astonished that England were so easily beaten?

“I think everyone was surprised by the result and surprised at the shortness of the games. You look at the First Test in Peth, the 123 (83 balls) by Travis Head in the second innings set the tone for the series. If England had won, the series would have been different. Everyone was shocked at how the Tests went.”

Having signed for Yorkshire, the reigning Western Australia captain should be able to offer any advice - if needed - to his skipper Bairstow. So, will it be a relief not to have the pressure of captaincy?

“It’s a relief in a sense because I’ll have another focus-on my batting - rather than thinking of the whole group. I have enjoyed leadership, I’ll find my feet first here and help Jonny where I can.I think if you have too many people coming to you, it can be overwhelming.

“Talking of the Championship and Sheffield Shield as competitions, they are as tough as each other, played in different conditions. The schedule here is relentless, we play less cricket, the ball swings more in county cricket whereas in Australia, the bounce of the ball and pace of the wickets are different.

“I enjoy the four-day stuff the most, but it’s a huge challenge mentally, and I like the other formats because they offer different problems.”

Yorkshire love Australians, none more so than Darren Lehmann, who had a magnificent record in first class games for the county from 1997-2006. 8,871 runs at 68.76... if Whiteman comes anywhere near that success, Doncaster’s Aussie will be someone just as special.

(This article appears courtesy of The Cricket Paper)