During World Series Cricket Whyte was occasionally spoken of as a possible Test candidate.
When it was his turn and there was some pace about, the same guy who gave all that crap suddenly went deathly quiet... Out there he had all that chat, but when it came to it he displayed cowardice, and there are a lot like that in Shield cricket, good talkers when they are in the field but when they come in to bat it’s a different story.
"[6] After Australia's leading spinners Ray Bright and Kerry O'Keefe joined World Series Cricket in 1977, some observers such as Greg Chappell and Ray Robinson suggested Whyte may be selected for Australia.
However the Australian selectors preferred Tony Mann, Jim Higgs and Bruce Yardley.
Whyte's omission from the 1978 tour to West Indies was publicly criticsed by Queensland coach Ken Mackay.