Shield final White's priority
Wed, 17 March 2010
Victorian skipper Cameron White says there was never any danger of him missing Wednesday's Sheffield Shield final against Queensland at the MCG in favour of chasing the riches on offer in the Indian Premier League. White and fellow Bushranger David Hussey have delayed their arrivals for this year's IPL until after the Shield final finishes on Sunday costing themselves big money in the process by way of lucrative match payments in the cashed-up Twenty20 arena. However White said state loyalty had to come first as far as he was concerned. "I was always going to play (in the Shield final) as long as I was allowed or maybe if I wasn't allowed, I was going to play anyway," he said on Tuesday. "That was the decision I pretty much had my mind set on when I knew I would have to make a decision and whichever way it turned out I was going to try my best to play for Victoria." White said he was grateful a compromise was reached between the IPL and Cricket Australia allowing him to first complete his Shield commitments before flying to India to play for Bangalore. "There is a fair bit of money involved (in missing the early part of the IPL) but this is the reason I get to play in the IPL because I play for Victoria," White said. "They (Victoria) have given me the opportunity (to play first-class cricket in the first place) so it (playing in the Shield final) is the right thing to do and that is what I wanted to do." White would have been unavailable for the Shield final had he been chosen to play for Australia in the two-Test series against New Zealand, but despite dominating in the shorter forms of the game for his country he was surprisingly overlooked in favour of uncapped New South Wales all-rounder Steven Smith. "I was hopeful (of being selected for the Test series) and a little bit disappointed (I wasn't) but I am here to play the Shield final and I am going to try and play it as best I can," he said. And the Vics skipper did not envisage any problems switching back to the five-day game after having spent the past month playing Twenty20 and one-day internationals only for Australia. "I am pretty confident I can come back and adjust to the five-day game and I am looking forward to the game tomorrow," he said. White also endorsed the continuation of the Shield final despite speculation this year's decider could be the last one staged as it may make way for an expanded domestic Twenty20 competition from next season. "I haven't had a chance to sit down and have a look at it and see how it all pans out in terms of scheduling," White said. "But in terms of actually having the best competition and the best game that we possibly can for the players to prepare for the next level - this is as good as it gets so from that point of view I think it (the Shield final) is a very good thing."
Paul Gough, Sportal
