SamWhiteman

Whiteman joined WA on a Rookie contract ahead of the 2012-13 season and quickly became recognised as one of the country's more promising wicketkeeper-batters. The classy left-hander made his First-Class debut against Victoria in November 2012 and played eight Sheffield Shield matches that summer. He backed up a promising debut season by scoring 687 runs at 45.80 (sixth in the Shield that year) and completing 45 dismissals during the 2013-14 Shield campaign, earning a call-up for Australia A. Several serious finger injuries saw Whiteman give away the gloves in long form cricket, but his ability as a hard-edged top-order batter remains valuable to WA's prospects. This was never more evident than during the 2021-22 Sheffield Shield season, when Whiteman finished as WA's leading scorer with 641 runs at 58.27, including two centuries and two half-centuries. No fewer than 208 of those runs came during the Sheffield Shield Final, during which Whiteman faced 517 balls for scores of 85 and 123, earning him Player of the Match honours.