By Nick Creely
Star South African batsman David White may have only played a single season in Australia, but he’s already become a feared name in the Dandenong District Cricket Association.
And bad news for bowlers – the reigning Turf 1 premiership captain-coach of Buckley Ridges is back after a highly successful UK stint with Ashstead in the Surrey Championships Premier Division, and with even more purpose to add to his extraordinary, record-breaking 2018/19 campaign.
In just 16 matches – including Twenty20’s – in the DDCA last season, White amassed 1252 runs at an average of 125.20, a season that included six centuries and three half-centuries from just 16 innings, completely taking the competition by storm.
White told the Journal that he felt an added responsibility joining the club last season, and felt like he put his best foot forward on a personal level to better the team.
“I didn’t know what to expect to be honest, and in home conditions it helped, we have a good wicket and a smaller field, and I was batting well at the time, so all those things help,” he said.
“It was fantastic – whenever you come to a new place, you really want to do well personally, especially if you’re a leader and captain, and obviously with the points situation, there was a lot of difficult decisions to make last year in terms of selection, so it was really important that there was no question marks over my own place in the team.
“It was great to score runs, and contributing in the semi-final and final was extremely satisfying.”
But team success for White was the pinnacle, with the individual accolades just an added bonus.
After leading the Bucks to an incredible premiership against Springvale South last season, White – who belted his way to one of great hundreds in a grand final, cracking a memorable 178 – is back and raring to feast on bowlers once more, and reflected on the special day last season for the cricket club, one that he will always hold dear to his heart.
“I was actually saying to the guys after the game, ‘I’ve played so much cricket in my life that was dead-cricket, and it only mattered for your own individual score and getting a contract’, and it (the premiership) was honestly one of the highlights of my career,” he said.
“It meant so much to a lot of people, it was a hell of a competitive game of cricket – looking back, it’s one of the biggest highlights for sure.”
But that sweet taste of premiership success – combined with an even-hungrier Buckley Ridges – spells danger for opposition sides.
White’s Bucks opened their account with a comfortable win against St Mary’s in Round 1, on the very ground they lifted the trophy up in March. The gun whacked 81 off 80 balls himself.
“It was a nice way to start with a win – after the game we had a little bit of mixed feelings, we probably felt like we let them off the hook a little bit,” he said.
“We had them really under pressure, and let them off the hook, but still happy to get the (premiership) defense off with a win.
“We’ve got a couple of new guys coming in, and a couple of older guys that have lowered their points, so the club’s in a strong position.
“We’ve got a West Indian, Jerome Jones, who played his first game and bowled really nicely – he’s a good bloke, and looks like he’ll add a lot to our bowling this year.”
On Saturday, White made 58 on day one of the Bucks’ clash with North Dandenong.
While he said that the club is proud of its achievements last season as the champion club of the DDCA, the Bucks want to go to the next level in 2019/20, and not take the foot off the pedal.
“I think whenever people and teams do well in sport it’s a challenge to not dwell too much on the past, and I think it was fantastic (winning the premiership), and an amazing experience, but when teams lose its important to not get too low, and when you win its important to not get too high,” he said.
“It’s really important (in continuing to be successful), but in saying that, we celebrated accordingly, and it was a special few days, definitely.”
The 28-year-old – with seven First Class centuries and two List A tons in South Africa next to his name before retiring last-February – is set to further test himself this year as a guest player in the Victorian SuperSlam for Frankston Peninsula.
White said that the challenge of playing some of Victoria’s best cricketers could be the catalyst for him to potentially put his name up in lights for a return to professional cricket, whether that’s in South Africa, or even in Australia.
“To be honest, I think for me, that market (Twenty20 cricket) is something that I did look into, it’s an extremely difficult one to break into,” he said.
“I’d be an overseas player in a competition like that (BBL), but you never know, if I can dominate that tournament, we’ll see.
“From a personal point of view, there’s a lot of changes in South African cricket, I’m in contact with a few of people over there and there’s talks about the domestic system going back to 12 teams from six.
“So it (SuperSlam) will be a good test for me playing a higher standard in a game that goes a bit quicker and just getting a taste of it again, and just seeing where I’m at.
“I do understand how it does feed into state cricket, and people are pretty proud of the standard of cricket, and it’s first grade.
“I’m very excited to give it a crack – the Twenty20 format has a bit of luck involved, you have to go out there and play, and things aren’t directly in your control.
“Hopefully I can get away to some starts, and see how we go.
“So I think it’s a nice balance – Buckley are looking after me outside of cricket and on Saturday’s with games and then I can still play a game-by-game basis in the T20s.
“And if something does change in the South African system, and I feel like I want to potentially give it another two years, then we’ll see how it goes.”
Buckley Ridges face North Dandenong on the second day of a two-day clash this Saturday at Park Oval.
