Con de Wet de Lange (11 February 1981 – 18 April 2019) was a cricketer who represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was a

left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of Finger spin, left-arm finger spin bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bow ...

all-rounder and a right-handed batsman. Born in South Africa, De Lange made his first-class debut for Boland in March 1998 against the touring

Sri Lankans This is a demography of the population of Sri Lanka including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Sri Lanka is an island in the ...

. He played for

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northa ...

in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. In October 2018,

Cricket Scotland Cricket Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Cricket Union, is the Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Scotland. The body is based at the National Cricket Academy, Edinburgh. The SCU was formed in 1908, but unde ...

announced that de Lange was suffering from a

brain tumour A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...

. In April 2019, the

Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In t ...

confirmed that de Lange had died.

International career

De Lange played for Scotland in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in June 2015. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) debut for Scotland against Ireland on 19 June 2015, although no play was possible due to rain. He made his

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) debut for Scotland against Afghanistan on 4 July 2016. De Lange's international career lasted thirteen ODIs and eight T20Is,.Con de Lange: Scotland all-rounder dies aged 38 after brain tumour

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, 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019. He was the team's vice-captain for the Desert T20 Challenge tournament, which was played in the United Arab Emirates in January 2017. His most famous moment for Scotland came against Zimbabwe in June 2017, when his match haul of five wickets for 60 helped his team cause a famous upset, with their first win against a full member of the ICC.

Illness and death

Shortly after the victory over Zimbabwe, de Lange started missing games in the World Cricket League (WCL) championships in Dubai. Initially, the reason given for his absence was said to be "severe migraine headaches". Upon his return to Scotland for further tests, a far more severe issue was diagnosed. De Lange played his last international match for Scotland, an ODI against Papua New Guinea, on 25 November 2017. The results of medical tests were not published initially, and it was only during the 2019 World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, played in October 2018, that Cricket Scotland sent a press release stating that the then 37-year old de Lange had been battling a brain tumour for the past 10 months. After the diagnosis, de Lange underwent a series of treatments, which included an operation followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatment.Con de Lange

, 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019. Together with his wife Claire and children, de Lange set up a fundraising appeal called 'Brain Tumour Charity', in memory of a close friend who died from the disease. As part of the initiative, the de Langes arranged walks to raise donations. On 18 April 2019, de Lange died at the age of 38.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:de Lange, Con 1981 births 2019 deaths Boland cricketers Cape Cobras cricketers Cricketers from Bellville, South Africa Deaths from brain cancer in Scotland Free State cricketers Knights cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Scotland cricketers Scotland One Day International cricketers Scotland Twenty20 International cricketers Scottish cricket coaches Scottish cricketers South African cricket coaches South African cricketers White South African people Ferguslie CC players