A right-handed opening batsman with a fine array of strokes, Whitelaw played first-class cricket for Auckland with some success from 1928–29 to 1946–47, averaging 37 runs per innings.

In 1936–37, playing for Auckland against Otago at Dunedin, Whitelaw and Bill Carson set a world record that stood for almost 40 years by adding 445 for the third wicket.

Both matches were dominated by the batting of Wally Hammond, who scored 563 runs in two innings, being dismissed just once.

[3] He also represented New Zealand in matches against the MCC team led by Errol Holmes in 1935–36.

[4] He was twelfth man when New Zealand played Australia in a single Test in Wellington in 1945–46.