Allan White


Allan Frederick Tinsdale White was an English amateur first-class cricketer. He was 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.

Early life and education

Born in Earlsdon, Coventry, White was educated at Uppingham School before going up to Pembroke College, Cambridge. He made his first-class debut for Cambridge University against Sussex in May 1936, scoring 93 before being out lbw to the bowling of Charles Oakes. He won his blue that season, playing in the Varsity Match at Lord's where he made 19 and 5. He also played six games for Warwickshire in the County Championship, often getting a good start though never going on to a big score, and finishing with 272 runs at an average of 30.22, placing him third in the county's averages.

County cricket career

In 1937 White continued to play for Cambridge, although without winning another blue. He also made a further two appearances for Warwickshire, although his 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 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 of Worcestershire. This proved 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 responsibilities as a mushroom farmer and after a final season for Worcestershire in 1949, he retired from first-class cricket. However, he played on for several years afterwards, representing the county's Second XI.

Death

White died in Worcester at the age of 77.