Allan White
Encyclopedia
Allan Frederick Tinsdale White (5 September 1915 - 16 March 1993) was an English
cricketer
: a right-handed batsman who played for both Warwickshire
and Worcestershire
, captaining the latter county between 1947 and 1949, though sharing the captaincy with Bob Wyatt
in the last of those three seasons. He also played for Cambridge University
, as well as making a single appearance for Free Foresters
. Curiously, he passed fifty 26 times without ever going on to score a century.
Born in Earlsdon
, Coventry
, White made his first-class
debut for Cambridge University against Sussex
in May 1936, scoring 93 (which was to remain his highest score for the university) before being out lbw
to the bowling of Charles Oakes. He won his blue
that season, playing in the Varsity Match
at Lord's but making only 19 and 5, and also played seven games with reasonable success for Warwickshire, usually getting a good start though never going on to a really big score.
In 1937 White continued to play for Cambridge, though without winning another blue, and also made a further two appearances for Warwickshire, though those four innings totalled just 14 runs. He was then out of first-class cricket for a while before moving to Worcestershire in 1939, and although his record was mediocre (386 runs at 13.78
, with a top score of only 47) he was kept on by the county when cricket resumed after World War II
, enjoying his most successful season in 1946 with 1,179 first-class runs and a career-best 95 against the Combined Services
.
In 1947 White was made captain by the county, proving to be a good choice - his obituary in Wisden
called him "a popular and enterprising leader", - and he again passed a thousand runs for the season, albeit from 54 innings, the most he was ever to play in a single summer. From 1948 onwards his attentions were increasingly taken up by his off-field activities as a mushroom farmer and after a final season in 1949, a successful year for Worcestershire in which they came third in the County Championship
, he retired from first-class cricket, though he did play on for several years for the county's Second XI.
White died in Worcester
at the age of 77.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
: a right-handed batsman who played for both Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
and Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
, captaining the latter county between 1947 and 1949, though sharing the captaincy with Bob Wyatt
Bob Wyatt
Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team....
in the last of those three seasons. He also played for Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, as well as making a single appearance for Free Foresters
Free Foresters Cricket Club
Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' club, having no home ground....
. Curiously, he passed fifty 26 times without ever going on to score a century.
Born in Earlsdon
Earlsdon, Coventry
Earlsdon is a suburb and electoral ward of Coventry. It lies approximately one mile to the southwest of Coventry City Centre. It is the birth place of aviation pioneer Frank Whittle There are shops and several restaurants on Earlsdon Street, the main street through Earlsdon. There is also...
, Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, White made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Cambridge University against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
in May 1936, scoring 93 (which was to remain his highest score for the university) before being out lbw
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
to the bowling of Charles Oakes. He won his blue
University Sporting Blue
A Blue is an award earned by sportsmen and women at a university and some schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of Blues began at Oxford and Cambridge Universities...
that season, playing in the Varsity Match
Varsity match
A varsity match is a sporting fixture between two university rivals; in its original and most common form, it is used to describe meetings between Oxford University and Cambridge University.-Popular British and Irish Varsity matches:*University of Oxford v...
at Lord's but making only 19 and 5, and also played seven games with reasonable success for Warwickshire, usually getting a good start though never going on to a really big score.
In 1937 White continued to play for Cambridge, though without winning another blue, and also made a further two appearances for Warwickshire, though those four innings totalled just 14 runs. He was then out of first-class cricket for a while before moving to Worcestershire in 1939, and although his record was mediocre (386 runs at 13.78
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
, with a top score of only 47) he was kept on by the county when cricket resumed after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, enjoying his most successful season in 1946 with 1,179 first-class runs and a career-best 95 against the Combined Services
Combined Services cricket team
The Combined Services cricket team represents the British armed forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lord's in 1920, while their last was against Oxford...
.
In 1947 White was made captain by the county, proving to be a good choice - his obituary in Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
called him "a popular and enterprising leader", - and he again passed a thousand runs for the season, albeit from 54 innings, the most he was ever to play in a single summer. From 1948 onwards his attentions were increasingly taken up by his off-field activities as a mushroom farmer and after a final season in 1949, a successful year for Worcestershire in which they came third in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
, he retired from first-class cricket, though he did play on for several years for the county's Second XI.
White died in Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
at the age of 77.
External links
- Statistical summary from CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...