Whiteman hopes for Scorchers gig

It has been almost two years since Bunbury’s Sam Whiteman wore the orange colours of the Perth Scorchers in a Big Bash League game, but tomorrow night he is hoping to make a long-awaited return.

The 24-year-old missed the entire fifth edition of the BBL with a broken finger, with his last Twenty20 fixture being the BBL04’s final against the Sydney Sixers, where he was bowled for a duck by Brett Lee.

Whiteman has been in good form as of late, scoring his third First Class century and second for WA last month at the WACA against Tasmania, before hitting 50 off 30 balls in an intra-club match last week at the same venue in preparation for tomorrow night’s game against the Adelaide Strikers.

Part-time wicketkeeper Cameron Bancroft was chosen ahead of Whiteman to keep for the Scorchers in that particular game, with the left-hander instead batting at three for the opposition as part of his preparation.

Whiteman told the South Western Times that playing in the Legends XI side was a great experience.

“You can listen to those guys for ages and learn,” he said.

“It was good fun. To play alongside some of those guys was pretty special.”

Whiteman said last week’s practice game was “not too serious” but he took confidence from it.

“Part of being a professional cricketer is adapting quickly,” he said. “It has been good with scheduling to have two weeks between the last Shield game and the first Big Bash game.”

Whiteman said the Scorchers had a competitive squad this year and spots in the team were not guaranteed.

The Scorchers have assembled a strong squad ahead of this year’s competition, with former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson and England batsman Ian Bell signing on for the season, while all-rounder Mitch Marsh is expected to play most of the competition after being dropped from the Australian Test match side.

Whiteman, who played in both the Scorchers’ title wins in 2014 and 2015, said the Scorchers had pressure to perform because of the strength of their side.

He said playing in front of a packed house at the “Furnace” was a great experience.