White steps up to SA side
SOUTH Africa A will field not one but two NMMU stars when they face Australia A in the first of two four-day testsDown Under next week.
Mecer Madibaz and Chevrolet Warriors opening batsman David White, 23, will make his debut for the national squad alongside teammate Simon Harmer, who has become a regular fixture in the line-up.
"Representing your country in any form is a massive honour and to play Australia in Australia is about as good as it gets," White, who was part of the SA Schools XI and the national U19 team at the World Cup in New Zealand in 2010, said.
"I'm going to soak up the experience and hopefully come back a stronger player for it.
The right-hander has been hard at work preparing for the fast pace of pitches in Queensland.
"I've been doing a lot of my preparations indoors and inland to try and mimic the Australian conditions as closely as possible. I believe they'll suit me as all four of my first-class hundreds this season were scored up-country on the faster wickets." White, who made his first-class debut for Eastern Province against Boland in 2010, takes up his familiar position at the top of the order.
"It's a tough and specialised position but I really enjoy it. Although, at times, I would prefer more than a 10-minute changeover after more than a hundred overs in the field!"
He caught the selectors' attention this season with consistently impressive performances, including three centuries and five half-centuries in the Sunfoil series.
"I enjoyed a good season with the bat. My tally of 882 runs in 10 matches was a record for the most runs in a season by a Warriors batsman, which I'm very proud of."
His results are a far cry from the disappointment of fracturing his hand in his first outing for the provincial outfit in early 2012.
"I had to wait 18 months before I was selected again due to lack of form and a hip injury that later required surgery. I only started playing as a full-time member of the four-day team in October last year."
Since then White has been the mainstay of the Warriors' innings but describes his bowling as a "work- in- progress".
"I bowled quite a bit this season but with limited success. I definitely think I have the ability to become a genuine allrounder in the future."
Born and raised partly in Durban, he has called Port Elizabeth home since his family moved to the city when he was 16. He completed his schooling at Grey High School and was part of the EP Cricket Academy in 2010 and 2011.
He is in his third year of human movement science studies.
"Due to my cricket commitments I have never been able to study full-time and I've spread out my degree over a longer period but I can see the finish line now!"
White has his sights on a test team berth but was realistic about his path to Protea glory.
"Obviously, that is the goal but I'm not getting too far ahead of myself. I feel I have work to do on my game before I'm ready to succeed at test level."
The first test starts at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville on August 7, followed by the second test at the same venue a week later.
