David William "Butch" White (14 December 1935 – 1 August 2008) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, who played in two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in 1961 and 1962. He played county cricket for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

from 1957 to 1971, with a final season at

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

in 1972.

Early life

White was born in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. In his youth, he played club cricket for Aston Unity in the Birmingham League and for Warwickshire Second XI. During National Service as a driving instructor in the Army, he made his first-class debut for Hampshire, playing against Cambridge University in 1957, and joining the county staff in 1958. The retirement of

Vic Cannings Victor Henry Douglas Cannings (3 April 1919 – 27 October 2016) was an English cricketer, cricket coach and colonial police officer. Born in Hampshire in April 1919, Cannings joined the Palestine Police Force in 1938 and spent the Second World ...

in 1959 gave him the opportunity to open the bowling for Hampshire alongside

Derek Shackleton Derek Shackleton (12 August 1924 – 28 September 2007) was a Hampshire County Cricket Club, Hampshire and England cricket team, England bowler (cricket), bowler. He took over 100 wickets in 20 consecutive seasons of first-class cricket, but onl ...

First-class cricket career

pace bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

, White took 1,097 first-class wickets in 15 seasons with

. He helped Hampshire win the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

title for the first time in 1961 under captain

Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie Alexander Colin David Ingleby-Mackenzie OBE (15 September 1933 – 9 March 2006) was an English first-class cricketer: a left-handed batsman who played for Hampshire between 1951 and 1966, captaining the county from 1958 to 1965 as Hampshire's ...

, with White and Shackleton each taking over 100 wickets. At the time, White was considered one of the best fast bowlers in England. Many Hampshire fans consider him the fastest English bowler to have played for the county. He was a muscular bowler, running in energetically from 25 yards, with a convulsive delivery stride. He troubled batsmen for pace, and combined a natural in-swinger with a ball that held its line outside off stump. He was

no-ball In cricket, a no-ball is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal delivery. For most cricket games, especially a ...

ed for throwing by

Paul Gibb Paul Antony Gibb (11 July 1913 – 7 December 1977) was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Yorkshire and Essex, as a right-handed opening or mid ...

twice in 1960, but Gibb later recognised that he had been mistaken. His batting was limited, and tended to the agricultural. In 1960, he scored 28 off an over bowled by Oxford University off-spinner Dan Piachaud: after a dot ball, he hit four sixes and then a four. He took over 100 wickets in a season on four occasions, claiming 6–10 at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in 1965 against a

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

side (including

Geoff Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...

Brian Close Dennis Brian Close, (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English first-class cricketer. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, ...

Ray Illingworth Raymond Illingworth CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in first-class cricket.Arnold, Peter ...

and

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

) that was bowled out for its lowest ever first-class total of 23. His best figures were 9–44 against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in 1966. He played just two Tests, both on the 1961/62 tour of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

captained by

Ted Dexter Edward Ralph Dexter, (15 May 1935 – 25 August 2021) was an England international cricketer. An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and a right-arm medium bowler, he captained Sussex and England in the early 1960s. He captaine ...

. White's Test debut may have been delayed by early concerns at his bowling action, at a time when

Geoff Griffin Geoffrey Merton Griffin (12 June 1939 – 16 November 2006) was a Test cricketer who toured England with the South African cricket team in 1960, appearing in two Test matches. A right-arm, fast bowler and lower order batsman, his selection fo ...

was causing controversy; competition from

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

kept him out of the Test side during his best years. He opened the bowling in the First Test at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

in October 1961, England's first Test in Pakistan, dismissing the Pakistani opening batsmen,

Hanif Mohammed According to the United States Department of Defense, there were five dozen Pakistani detainees in Guantanamo prior to May 15, 2006. The Guantanamo Bay detention camp was opened on January 11, 2002. In the summer of 2004, following the United ...

and Imtiaz Ahmed, within 16 balls, and ending the innings with 3–65. He also played in the final Test of the tour at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in February 1962. He bowled Imtiaz Ahmed with his first ball, but pulled a muscle and was unable to continue after only 16 deliveries.Cricinfo.com
/ref> Although he suffered from a series of injuries on the tour, he topped the tourists' bowling averages, with 32 wickets at 19.84. His benefit in 1969 raised £4,547. Persistent injury spoiled his season in 1971, and he was dropped from the team. He had a brief spell with

in 1972, playing in one county match and several limited-over fixtures.

Later life

After retiring from the first-class game, he settled in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and was a coach at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. He also played for New Milton in the Hampshire League, and made frequent appearances at

Arundel Castle Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...

cricket ground playing for the Duchess of Norfolk's XI, amongst many others. He was married twice, and had one son. A keen golfer, he was engaged as a marshal at Mannings Heath GC, but treasured his membership at West Sussex Golf Club in

Pulborough Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north–south ...

, where he was a popular member and enthusiastic competitor in all club competitions. He died after suffering a heart attack on the golf course at Pulborough,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

References

Obituary
''The Daily Telegraph'', 5 August 2008
Obituary
''The Times'', 7 August 2008

''The Independent'', 14 August 2008
Obituary
''The Guardian'', 19 August 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Butch 1935 births 2008 deaths Cricketers from Sutton Coldfield England Test cricketers English cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Hampshire cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers