Jimmy White 'proud' as grandson Ralphie Albert plays County Championship opener for Surrey against Warwickshire
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Published 03/04/2026 at 15:53 GMT+1
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Jimmy White's grandson is starting to make a name for himself and not just because he is related to a six-time World Snooker Championship finalist. All-rounder Ralphie Albert made his second first-class cricket appearance on Friday, named in Surrey's Rothesay County Championship opener against Warwickshire. The England U19 international had an innings to forget, however.
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It turns out that Jimmy White is not the only successful sportsman in his family.
The Whirlwind's grandson Ralphie Albert made his progenitor "proud" on Friday, playing Surrey's first match of the new Rothesay County Championship season.
The encounter against Warwickshire at Edgbaston was just the 18-year-old's second first-class cricket appearance, having made his bow in Surrey's 20-run win over Hampshire in September 2025.
And Albert made a crucial contribution at The Rose Bowl on his first-class debut, hitting an innings-high 63 as Surrey racked up an insurmountable 428.
The all-rounder had already made a promising impression in August, compiling a knock of 96 in a One-Day Cup match against Nottinghamshire - the highest-ever Surrey score in a maiden List A innings.
And grandfather White - who will face Gao Yang in the 2026 Halo World Championship qualifiers on Monday, April 6 - expressed his family pride by quoting a graphic of Surrey's line-up on social media with "proud grandad time" as the caption.
But the teenager had an innings to forget against Warwickshire in the 2026 season opener, bowled for a silver duck by Chris Woakes.
Albert was coming off a productive U19 Cricket World Cup with England, reaching the final, where the young side met their match in a 100-run defeat to India.
The youngster from Epsom made an unbeaten half-century against New Zealand in Harare, taking 15 wickets in total across 10 innings at the tournament.
Surrey signed the burgeoning talent to a multi-year deal in October when Albert finally realised just how celebrated and popular grandad White was across the country.
"Mum used to say, 'One day you'll understand how famous he is'," Albert told BBC Sport in October. "People would go up to him in the street and I couldn't understand what was happening because I just knew him as my grandad.
"It still happens today. We were in the train station going to The Oval to watch the cricket and maybe three or four people came up to him. I was laughing because I don't understand how big he is."
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Some of White's mercurial talent has surely rubbed off on the youngster, who spins with his left and bats with his right, while Albert's father John - The Whirlwind's son-in-law - played club cricket for Malden Wanderers in his youth.
But Albert is determined to forge his own path as he grows in the game.
"I wouldn't say there's a need to prove myself. It's a great thing that he's my grandad, an elite sportsman," said Albert.
"I don't see what is being said. There are articles talking about us but I'm not deep into the comparison or making a name for myself. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens."
Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the 50th World Championship, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max
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