“I’ll take my spot anywhere in the team. As long as I can play and contribute then that’s the main thing.”
Middlesex batter Robbie White is hungry to make a difference at the Club this season after proving his value to the side with a number of hugely impressive performances towards the back-end of 2021 as the LV= Insurance County Championship campaign came to a close.
White, 26, scored 765 runs in 14 Championship matches last summer and finally had a sense of belonging within the team.
“It was nice to have a consistent role,” he admitted. “I had a feeling of knowing what my part within the group was and it was nice to go into games with a similar mindset and playing that holding role.
“Moving forward, I’ll be happy to bat anywhere really; I see myself as a top-order batter or a top-five batter and if an opportunity presents itself to play higher up, then great – but having a spot where I can consistently contribute week-in, week out makes things easier.”
The Ealing man scored his maiden first-class century at Lord’s against Derbyshire last August before following it up with another ton a week later in Hove against Sussex as the team racked up the highest total in the Club’s history of 676/5 declared.
Speaking of his maiden century and the strong end to the year, White said: “That was a really special day; Bank Holiday Monday at Lord’s – the first day that members and supporters were allowed back. That’ll be a memory that will stay with me for a very long time.
“It was great all season to have a role in the side and to play a part throughout the whole year. It’s something that I’ve been desperate for over the last few seasons and I’ve had frustrating times, so it was nice last season to feel like I was contributing to the side and to the batting unit.”
With his individual stats from 2021 making for impressive reading, White was asked whether or not international honours could be in the reckoning if there is another strong year had in 2022.
“As a county player, my aspiration is to play Test cricket. It would be tough to play if that wasn’t my aspiration and I will hopefully always have that,” White said.
“For me, it’s not really a focus at the moment – it’s about settling into the Middlesex team to help put in performances that help the team win and put together a season that the team want to achieve.
“You’ve seen some of the players playing in the latter part of their career [in international cricket] as a batter.
“I don’t think there’s a particular time where you become past the point of being deserving of the opportunity to play at the next level. If you put in the performances then other things above your level will hopefully take care of themselves.”
Ahead of the new campaign, White senses optimism following the Club’s restructuring over the winter, which has seen additions to and some reshuffling of the men’s coaching set-up.
“We’re energised and excited to see what we can achieve with this formula,” White explained. “We know that nothing has been done yet; the winter has been great, but it doesn’t mean anything as nothing has been achieved yet.
“It’s a really exciting time and I think we as a group know that we haven’t been where we want to be or where we need to be and I think it’s a refreshing time.
“Personally, Alan Coleman was my under-10 coach, so it’s amazing that we’ve come through together: he was my academy director and second team coach, so having him overseeing things is a great.
“Rory Coutts too is someone who I met at the age of 13 or 14 and brought me throw the age groups. He knows a lot of our games inside and out.
“About eight or nine years ago whenever I was in the second team it was Ramps (Mark Ramprakash) and Jono (Richard Johnson).
“There’s a familiar feel – it’s taking the relationships that were built earlier and taking those to the next level. We’ve now got a group of staff where the relationship between them and the playing group is great.”
