# Paul Whitaker > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paul_Whitaker > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paul_Whitaker.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whitaker > Source revision: 1284328241 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Not to be confused with [Paul Whittaker](/source/Paul_Whittaker_(disambiguation)). **Paul Robert Whitaker** (born 28 June 1973) is a former English [cricketer](/source/Cricket) who played in England for [Hampshire County Cricket Club](/source/Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club) and briefly in New Zealand for [Central Districts](/source/Central_Districts_cricket_team). ## Cricket career Whitaker was born in June 1973 at [Keighley, Yorkshire](/source/Keighley). He was educated at Grange Middle School and [Whitcliffe Mount School](/source/Whitcliffe_Mount_School). Whitaker played his early [county cricket](/source/County_cricket) at [Derbyshire](/source/Derbyshire_County_Cricket_Club), but was unable to force his way into their starting eleven and was released at the end of the 1993 season. He subsequently wrote to [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club) seeking to secure a new contract, which he was successful in doing.[1] After scoring heavily in Second XI cricket,[1] Whitaker made his debut in [first-class cricket](/source/First-class_cricket) for Hampshire against [Leicestershire](/source/Leicestershire_County_Cricket_Club) at [Leicester](/source/Grace_Road) in the [1994 County Championship](/source/1994_County_Championship).[2] He had a successful debut, scoring 94 in Hampshire's first innings [opening the batting](/source/Batting_order_(cricket)#Opening_batters) alongside [Paul Terry](/source/Paul_Terry_(cricketer)). His innings was described by [Derek Pringle](/source/Derek_Pringle) as "looking assured in defence" and that "he displayed a decent array of shots".[1] Alongside a further appearance in the County Championship, Whitaker also made his debut in [List A one-day cricket](/source/List_A_cricket) during the 1994 season, playing two matches in the [1994 Axa Equity & Law League](/source/1994_Axa_Equity_%26_Law_League).[3] He established himself in the Hampshire side during the 1995 season, making thirteen first-class and fourteen one-day appearances.[2][3] Whitaker scored what would be his only first-class [century](/source/Century_(cricket)) during this season, with a score of 119 against [Worcestershire](/source/Worcestershire_County_Cricket_Club), which helped to enable a declaration after [Mark Nicholas](/source/Mark_Nicholas) had also made 138 [not out](/source/Not_out).[4] During the winter which followed the 1995 season, Whitaker played cricket in New Zealand, where he made six one-day appearances for [Central Districts](/source/Central_Districts_cricket_team) in the [1995–96 Shell Cup](/source/1995%E2%80%9396_Shell_Cup).[3] After a similar number of first-class appearances in the 1996 season, as well as twenty one-day appearances, Whitaker's appearances for Hampshire became less in their regularity. Having made infrequent appearances during the 1997 and 1998 season,[5] he was released alongside [Richard Dibden](/source/Richard_Dibden).[6] In 37 first-class matches for Hampshire, he scored 1,734 runs at an [average](/source/Batting_average) of 30.42, making eleven half centuries alongside his solitary century.[7] With the ball, he took 13 wickets with best figures of 3 for 36.[8] In one-day cricket, he made 54 appearances for Hampshire and scored 757 runs at an average of 17.60; he made three half centuries, with a highest score of 97. For Central Districts, he scored 109 runs and made one half century.[9] With the ball, he took 18 wickets for Hampshire and 6 for Central Districts in one-day cricket.[10] Following his retirement from cricket, Whitaker emigrated to New Zealand.[5] ## References 1. Pringle, Derek (10 September 1994). ["Cricket: Winds of change for Whitaker"](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket-winds-of-change-for-whitaker-1448012.html). *[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)*. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["First-Class Matches played by Paul Whitaker"](https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4722/First-Class_Matches.html). CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["List A Matches played by Paul Whitaker"](https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4722/List_A_Matches.html). CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["On This Day: Mark Nicholas Stars Against Worcestershire"](https://www.ageasbowl.com/cricket/news/on-this-day-marc-nicholas-stars-against-worcestershire/). *www.ageasbowl.com*. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. Allen, Dave (27 May 2021). ["A New Zealand & Hampshire Connection"](https://www.ageasbowl.com/cricket/news/a-new-zealand-and-hampshire-connection/). *www.ageasbowl.com*. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["1998"](https://hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/1998/). *www.hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com*. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Paul Whitaker"](https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4722/f_Batting_by_Team.html). CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["First-Class Bowling For Each Team by Paul Whitaker"](https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4722/f_Bowling_by_Team.html). CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["List A Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Paul Whitaker"](https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4722/a_Batting_by_Team.html). CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2023. 1. ["List A Bowling For Each Team by Paul Whitaker"](https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4722/a_Bowling_by_Team.html). CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2023. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paul Whitaker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whitaker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whitaker?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.