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.

He continued on his fine red-ball form in 2022-23 as WA went on to make it back-to-back titles, scoring 601 runs and playing every match. While opening the batting and forming a lethal combination with Cameron Bancroft, the most important role Whiteman filled during that campaign was as stand-in skipper for Mitchell Marsh, who wasn't available due to international duty.

Whiteman produced a career-best campaign in 2023-24 as he once again the stand-in captaincy title, scoring 770 runs at 40.52 including three centuries and a Player of the Match performance in the Shield Final against Tasmania. His 104 set the tone for his side, as they went to crush their opponents by 377 runs and secure their third consecutive red-ball title.

The 32-year-old became full-time Shield captain at the start of the 2024-25, with Marsh handing over the reins.