NEWS has just come that Australian Jim White, whose association with Malaysian cricket spanned nearly 50 years from 1959, died at his home in Sydney recently. He was 94.

Former Malaysian cricket international S. Ramani, who lives in Melbourne, called to say that White passed away peacefully on Dec 28 and a private funeral was held by his family on Jan 3.

I had the pleasure to meet him on many occasions at the Royal Selangor Club during his visits to Kuala Lumpur and got to know him well.

White brought the Emus Cricket Club to Malaysia at the invitation of the then Malaysian trade commissioner in Australia, Abdullah Ali, in 1959 to play a series of matches against state teams here.

That was the beginning of his long relationship with Malaysian cricket and Malaysians in general. Over the next five decades, White and the Emus made numerous cricket tours to Malaysia.

In 1973, White played a key role in organising, together with the Malaysian Cricket Association and the Education Ministry, a cricket tour of Australia by Malaysian schoolboys.

He had earlier (in 1972) arranged for Kings School, a leading private school in Sydney, to play in Malaysia and promote cricket in schools.

White also arranged coaching sessions and club attachment in Australia for our young cricketers. They included P. Banerji, Clarence Samuel, K. Jayakugan and Ramani, all of whom went on to play for Malaysia in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ramani remembers him as a generous and kind-hearted person who helped develop cricket not only in Australia but also in Malaysia and elsewhere.

White started life as a cattle rancher and was an authority on cattle-breeding. He spent a lot of time in Argentina and over time, helped develop a cricket interest there, too.

In his younger days, he spent many years in the Australian bush, living with the Aborigines and developing an intimate understanding of their culture and way of life.

“Jim will be missed by his many friends and cricketers in Malaysia and Singapore - friendships forged over the last 50 years,” said Ramani when he called to say that a good friend of Malaysia had passed on.

U.K.M., Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – April 1, 2008