Master of Ceremonies

Mike Whitney has an innate talent for communicating and holding peoples attention. A consummate anecdotist and accomplished mimic, Mike is an entertaining raconteur whose stories are told with grace, humour and charm.

A qualified aviation engineer, Mike entered the world of cricket with a wild-man image and a reputation for bowling fast and dangerously.

In 1994 after a 14 year successful career he retired from first class professional cricket. Since then Mike has established himself in the entertainment industry and the hearts of the Australian people with his varied talents including promotions and marketing, print, television, radio and film.

Currently Mike is in his 9th year as a full time identity for The Seven Network where he hosts the top rating programme Sydney Weekender and is a regular guest on Sunrise. He has also been a regular panellist on Sports Sunday, and At the Wicket a one-hour cricket talk show viewed internationally on C7, the Seven Networks cable channel.

Mike was co-host of 108 episodes of Who Dares Wins, a half-hour real life action program that aired during prime time on Wednesdays/Saturdays. He also hosted the AXN Who Dares Wins India Special, 6 x 1 hour programmes filmed on location in India and Australia and aired on AXN Cable in Asia and India. In 2000, Mike was a presenter for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games covering the cycling, rowing, tennis, athletics, and Opening and Closing Ceremonies for The Seven Network.

He was also co-host of The Olympic Show, the prime time Sunday afternoon sports programme that interviewed Olympic and Para-Olympic athletes prior to the games. Mike is a patron for the Sydney Kids Committee (Young Christopher Robin Committee) and a member of the fundraising committee for the Sydney Childrens Hospital, Randwick. He has also organised a fundraising day "Whit Walk -Kilometers for Kids" with field events and family entertainment. The author of two books two best-selling books Quick Whit and Whiticisms, Mike is President of the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club, and Vice-President and a Life Member of Cricket New South Wales.