Justin Lee Langer (21 November 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er. He is the former coach of the
Australia men's national team, having been appointed to the role in May 2018 and leaving in February 2022. A left-handed
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
, Langer is best known for his
partnership with
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Just ...
as Australia's test
opening batsmen during the early and mid-2000s, considered one of the most successful ever. Representing
Western Australia domestically, Langer played
English county cricket for
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...
and also
Somerset
Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...
. He holds the record for the most
runs scored at
first-class level by an Australian.
Born in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia, Langer excelled at cricket from an early age, representing Western Australia at under-age level, as well as the
Australia under-19 team. He also won a scholarship to the
Australian Cricket Academy at the
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
in 1990. Langer made his first-class debut for Western Australia during the 1991–92
Sheffield Shield, and, after good form at state level, made his Test debut for Australia the following season at the age of 22, during the
West Indies'
1992–93 tour. Although maintaining his place in the side, he struggled for form, and only made sporadic appearances for Australia until his selection for Australia's
1998–99 tour of Pakistan, in which he scored his first Test
century
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
. Establishing himself at number three in the batting order, Langer maintained this role until the
2001 Ashes series. Having been injured for the first four Tests, he replaced
Michael Slater
Michael Jonathon Slater (born 21 February 1970) is an Australian former professional cricketer and former television presenter. He played in 74 Test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for the Australia national cricket team.
Early life
S ...
as Matthew Hayden's opening partner for the final Test, and scored a century in Australia's
innings win. This was the first of three centuries in consecutive matches that secured Langer's position at the top of the order.
Except for injuries, the partnership between Hayden and Langer (with
Ricky Ponting moving to Langer's previous position at number three) persisted until Langer's retirement at the conclusion of the
2006–07 Ashes series
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for The Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 series. The fiv ...
. Their partnership included a total of 5,655 runs over a period of 113 innings, second only to the partnership between West Indians
Gordon Greenidge and
Desmond Haynes
Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994.
Haynes favoured a more measured approach to batting and scored 7,487 runs in 116 Te ...
. Langer's retirement came after several injuries had restricted his batting, including a
concussion
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
sustained during Australia's
2005–06 tour of South Africa. Despite having been one of the leading runscorers in Australia's
domestic limited-overs competition, he only played eight
One Day International matches for Australia, all during a period from 1994 to 1997. After his retirement, Langer played one final season with Western Australia (having served as the state's captain since the 2002–03 season), as well as continuing as captain of Somerset in English domestic cricket. He retired from all forms of the cricket at the end of the
2009 English cricket season
The 2009 English cricket season was the 110th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Four regular tournaments were played: The LV County Championship ( first-class), Friends Provident Trophy ( 50 Over), NatWest Pro40 ...
. Langer was the Australian national cricket team's batting coach and senior assistant coach from November 2009 until November 2012, when he was appointed senior coach of the Perth Scorchers and Western Australia.
In 2016, Langer became interim coach for the Australian team while then coach Darren Lehmann took leave to scout for the Ashes and away matches late in 2016. In a fan poll conducted by the CA in 2017, he was named in the country's best Ashes XI in the last 40 years.
On 3 May 2018, Langer was announced as coach of the Australian national cricket team, following
a ball tampering scandal which led to the resignation of
Darren Lehmann
Darren Scott Lehmann (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who coached the Australian national team. Lehmann made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection f ...
. His four-year term began on 22 May 2018.
On 4 February 2022, Langer announced his resignation as head coach of the Australia men's team. His contract was set to expire in June 2022, and he turned down a short-term extension.
International career
1993–2000
Langer made his Test debut against the
West Indies at the
Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby l ...
, in January 1993.
He received a rough welcome against an in-form West Indian bowling attack, and along with the rest of the Australian team, he took numerous blows from their pace bowlers. After only managing to score 20 in the first innings, Langer top-scored for Australia with 54 in the second, a famous chase by Australia that fell just 2 runs short. In the fifth and final Test of the series, Langer only managed to score 11 runs between his two innings in a match that was dominated by the bowling of
Curtly Ambrose and
Ian Bishop.
He retained his place for the following
tour of New Zealand. After decent but not awe-inspiring totals in the first two Tests (63 & 24), Langer suffered the indignity of getting a
pair in the third Test, falling for a
duck in both innings. He was subsequently dropped, and other than a few scattered appearances did not return to the Australian Test team until October 1998, for the
tour of Pakistan.
In November 1999 at
Bellerive Oval
Bellerive Oval, known commercially as Blundstone Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Bellerive, a suburb on the eastern shore of Hobart, Australia, holding 20,000 people it is the largest ...
in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...
, he shared a match-winning 238-run partnership with
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-kee ...
to rescue Australia from 126/5 chasing a victory target of 369 against
Pakistan. The century scored in this innings was scored in 388 minutes, an Australian record for the slowest century.
2001–2002
Langer was a
number three batsman until 2001 when he was dropped after failing to convert a series of starts during Australia's 2–1 loss in India. During the second Test in Kolkata, he bowled a single over when
V. V. S. Laxman
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman (; born 1 November 1974) is a former Indian international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in T ...
and
Rahul Dravid defied the Australian attack for the entirety of the fourth day, forcing captain Steve Waugh to try almost all his players as bowlers; it was the only time Langer ever bowled at Test level. Shortly after though, he replaced
Michael Slater
Michael Jonathon Slater (born 21 February 1970) is an Australian former professional cricketer and former television presenter. He played in 74 Test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for the Australia national cricket team.
Early life
S ...
as an opening batsman for the final 2001
Ashes series
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...
Test at
The Oval where he celebrated his return with a century. He did not get dropped again and as an opening batsman he averaged 52.38 and scored 14 centuries in 44 matches; previously he scored 7 centuries in 41 matches at an average of 39.04. Langer returned to Australia in the 2002–03 Ashes series, where his very successful partnership with
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Just ...
developed. In this series, Langer scored his top score of 250 against England at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern ...
.
2003–2007
Langer personally outscored the entire Pakistan side in the Perth Test of 2004. He scored 191 and 97 while Pakistan made 179 and 72. It was the first occasion of a player being dismissed in both the 190s and 90s in a Test.
He captained the
Prime Minister's XI
The Prime Minister's XI or PM's XI (formerly Australian Prime Minister's Invitation XI) is an invitational cricket team picked by the Prime Minister of Australia for an annual match held at the Manuka Oval in Canberra against an overseas touring ...
in December 2005 in their match against the
West Indies.
In the
2005 Ashes
The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 21 July 2005, England and Australia played five Tests, with the Ashes held by Australia as the most recent victors. Th ...
series, Langer top-scored for an unsuccessful Australian team, with 391 in the series. His top score was 105, scored in the final test.
After this, pressure was mounting on the opening partnership of Hayden and Langer. Calls were coming to have the pair replaced by a younger duo, that would ensure the future and stability of the team to come. However, the partnership had support from the Australian selectors and was only disrupted in the 2006 Summer series when Langer was out with injury. He was replaced by
Mike Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...
and
Phil Jaques
Phil may refer to:
* Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names
* Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil"
* Phil, Kentucky, United States
* ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film
* -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root te ...
for two tests.
Langer then suffered a number of injuries, increasing the pressure on selectors to drop him for rising star Phil Jaques. Langer was selected over Jaques for the 2007 Ashes series, which turned out to be his last. Langer scored an 80 and a century in the first test, but it was slim pickings to follow for him.
Despite success in the Australian Test team, he did not get recalled to the one-day team, even after he was named as the domestic
ING Cup
The Ing Cup () is an international Go (game), Go tournament with a cash prize of over US$400,000. It was created by, and is named after, Ing Chang-ki. The tournament is held once every four years and hence often nicknamed the Go Olympics.
In t ...
's player of the season in 2002/03.
Retirement
On 1 January 2007, Langer announced his retirement from Test cricket after the fifth
Ashes
Ashes may refer to:
* Ash, the solid remnants of fires.
Media and entertainment Art
* ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch
Film
* ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda
* ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...
Test against England, starting at the
Sydney Cricket Ground the following day. In doing so, he joined
Shane Warne and
Glenn McGrath who had both announced their retirements earlier in the month, and it came only three matches after the surprise departure of
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn (born 21 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player from 1999 to 20 ...
.
He came to the decision during the previous match in Melbourne, having earlier decided against retiring after the tour of South Africa to help Australia reclaim the Ashes. He said of his decision: "Everyone keeps saying 'you'll know when it's time'. Well, at one o'clock two days ago I knew it was time – it just came to me."
Despite his retirement from international cricket, Langer opted to continue to play first-class cricket, with
Somerset
Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...
announcing on the same day that Langer had agreed to return to the English county in 2007 as captain. Langer had said during his retirement announcement that he was relishing returning to Somerset: "There's an amazing challenge at Somerset. They're at the bottom of everything, and I've got a great regard for the coach over there and I'm looking forward to that challenge."
Langer also stayed on with Western Australia for a final season in 2007–08.
List of international cricket centuries
He scored his first Test century against
Pakistan at the
Arbab Niaz Stadium
Arbab Niaz Stadium ( ur, ارباب نیاز سٹیڈیم), formerly known as Shahi Bagh Stadium ( ur, شاہی باغ سٹیڈیم), is a cricket stadium in Peshawar, Pakistan and home ground of Peshawar Zalmi. It is owned by Khyber Pakhtunkh ...
,
Peshawar on 15 October 1998, scoring 116.
He scored his final Test century against
England at
The Gabba
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Ga ...
,
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the Sou ...
on 23 November 2006
and his final Test match was
the final game of the same series at the
Sydney Cricket Ground,
Sydney on 2 January 2007, having played 105 matches. His highest score in Tests is 250, scored against
England at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern ...
,
Melbourne on 26 December 2002.
He never made a century in the ODI format; his highest score was 36, which he made against
India at the
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium ( ar, ملعب الشارقة للكريكيت) is in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It holds the record for the most ODIs hosted in a venue with 240 ODIs up to December 2019. It was originally constructed in t ...
,
Sharjah on 19 April 1994.
Test centuries
Domestic career
Western Australia
Langer was the captain of the
Western Warriors
The Western Australian Men’s cricket team, formerly nicknamed the Western Warriors, represent the Australian state of Western Australia in Australian domestic cricket. The team is selected and supported by the Western Australian Cricket Ass ...
until the end of the 2006/2007 season. He became the highest run-scorer for Western Australia in 4-day matches, after passing
Tom Moody
Thomas Masson Moody (born 2 October 1965) is a former Australian international cricketer and current Director of Cricket of Sri Lanka Cricket. He ended his long tenure with the Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad in August 2022 and ...
's old record of 8853 runs on 5 December 2007 against
Tasmania at
Bellerive Oval
Bellerive Oval, known commercially as Blundstone Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Bellerive, a suburb on the eastern shore of Hobart, Australia, holding 20,000 people it is the largest ...
.
On 5 March 2008, Langer announced his retirement from Australian first-class domestic cricket. Earlier in the year, Langer had announced his retirement from the Australian domestic one-day cricket. However, Langer said that he would play another season for Somerset in county cricket. Langer played for Western Australia in a career spanning 17 years, leaving as the highest run-scorer in Western Australia's history.
County Cricket
Langer played county cricket for
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex 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 Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonia ...
from 1998 to 2000, captaining the side in 2000. In his first season, he scored his maiden century in English domestic cricket in superb fashion with 233
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at th ...
against
Somerset
Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...
at
Lord's, in the same match that he was awarded his county cap. He went on to score centuries in his next two
County Championship matches, and achieved 1,000 runs for the season after only eight matches. He finished the season with the second highest runs total and batting average in the Championship, behind
John Crawley
John Paul Crawley (born 21 September 1971) is a former English first-class cricketer who played at international level for England and county cricket for Hampshire and Lancashire. Crawley, one of three brothers who all played first-class crick ...
on both counts.
In June 2006 it was announced that he would join
Somerset
Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...
later that month for six weeks, while fellow countryman
Dan Cullen
Daniel James Cullen (born 10 April 1984) is a former Australian first-class cricketer who played for South Australia and Somerset in a career that lasted from 2004 to 2009. He was a right-arm off break bowler who appeared six times for Austr ...
was on duty with Australia A. On 20 July 2006, he made his highest
first-class score of 342 playing for Somerset in a
County Championship match against
Surrey at the
Woodbridge Road
The Sports Ground, Woodbridge Road is a cricket ground in Guildford, Surrey. The ground was given to the town in trust in 1911 by Sir Harry Waechter, Bart. Guildford Cricket Club play their home matches on the ground. Surrey County Cricket Club ...
ground in
Guildford. This was also the highest score ever by a Somerset batsman, breaking the record of Sir
Viv Richards who made 322 against
Warwickshire at Taunton in 1985, and is the 10th highest score in a first-class match in England. During his six-week spell at the club, Langer also enjoyed particular success in the
Twenty20 competition, topping the batting charts along with fellow Australian
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White (born 18 August 1983) is an Australian former international cricketer who captained the national side in Twenty20 Internationals. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cr ...
.
On 20 April 2007 he became the first Somerset player to score two triple centuries in the County Championship when he hit 315 against
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...
in a match noted for its batting. Responding to a Middlesex first innings of 600, Somerset set a new ground record at the
County Ground, Taunton
The County Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as Cooper Associates County Ground, and nicknamed Ciderabad, is a cricket ground in Taunton, Somerset. It is the home of Somerset County Cricket Club, who have played there since 1882. The ground, ...
with 850–7
declared. On 19 September 2007 it was announced that Langer would stay with Somerset (as captain) for the 2008 season. In 15 first-class matches for the county in 2007, Langer scored 1215 runs at 57.85 and a further 764 in one-day competitions.
Early in the
2008 season, Langer and
Marcus Trescothick put on a 272-second wicket partnership during the second innings against
Hampshire at the County Ground, Taunton; falling just 18 short of the 1924 ground record.
On 23 July 2009, playing his 615th innings, he surpassed Sir
Donald Bradman as the leading Australian first-class run scorer when he scored his 86th century while playing Worcestershire.
At the end of the 2009 season, Langer announced that he would not be returning to Taunton in a playing capacity the following season, and retiring from all competitive cricket. He commented in an interview with
BBC Somerset
BBC Radio Somerset is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Somerset.
It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Blackbrook area of Taunton.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly aud ...
that he was in discussions to potentially return at some point to the county in the future in a coaching capacity. Langer played his last home game in English domestic cricket on 27 September 2009, captaining Somerset against Durham in the Nat West Pro40. A game which Somerset lost by two runs. Langer's last act as Somerset captain was to lead the side to the second stage of the
2009 Twenty20 Champions League.
Career best performances
Post-playing career
Langer through to the end of his career remained publicly undecided about what he wanted to do after his retirement. Speculation hence rose in the media with suggestions of a coaching position with Middlesex, and an open invitation to return to Somerset in some capacity. In November 2009, Cricket Australia announced the appointment of Langer as assistant coach of their Test team under national boss
Tim Nielsen
Timothy John Nielsen (born 5 May 1968) is a former South Australia state cricketer and formerly the head coach of the Australian cricket team. Nielsen played 101 first-class matches for his state between 1990–91 and 1998–99.
Nielsen was co ...
, as a batting coach and mentor. In November 2012, Langer was appointed to the position of senior coach of Western Australia and the
Perth Scorchers
The Perth Scorchers is an Australian domestic Twenty20 franchise cricket team representing the Western Australian city of Perth in the Big Bash League (BBL).
The Scorchers are the current BBL Champions, having defeated the Sydney Sixers in the ...
, after the resignation of
Lachlan Stevens, with a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season.
In July 2017, Langer was appointed to the board of the
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...
football club.
In May 2018, Langer was announced as the coach of the Australian national cricket team, and then in October 2019, Andrew McDonald was appointed as his assistant coach.
In 2019, he coached Australia to the semi-finals of the
2019 Cricket World Cup
The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...
, losing to England by 8 wickets. It was noted before the game that Langer had got Australia to walk barefoot around the edge of Edgbaston before the match in a bid to capture "positive energy coming out of the earth".
Famous duels and partners
In his 100th test, Langer was hit by a bouncer from
Makhaya Ntini (South Africa v Australia, 3rd Test, Johannesburg, 2nd day). He suffered concussion and underwent scans in hospital. Despite the risk of being killed if hit on the head again, Langer padded up to bat in the second innings if it was required of him. Captain
Ricky Ponting wrote in his diary that because of Langer's intention of defying medical advice, he would have had to declare the run chase and forfeit the match to prevent Langer from facing the bowling.
Brett Lee
Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world.
In each of his first two ...
scored the winning runs before Langer was needed.
Langer's most notable opening batting partner was
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Just ...
. The opening pair represented Australia in more than 100 Test innings. The pair made 5654 runs while batting together in partnerships, with an average of 51 runs per partnership; only
Gordon Greenidge and
Desmond Haynes
Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994.
Haynes favoured a more measured approach to batting and scored 7,487 runs in 116 Te ...
of the West Indies have scored more Test runs as a partnership, with 6482.
Personal life
Langer is an alumnus of Perth schools
Newman College and
Aquinas College. The Justin Langer Shield is played between year sevens of Newman and Aquinas.
He is the nephew of
Rob Langer, a left-handed batsman for
Western Australia during the 1970s and 1980s. Langer is married to his high school sweetheart, Sue, and has four daughters. When resident in
Somerset
Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...
, the family stayed in a rented home in
Hatch Beauchamp: "Mate, I say this with the utmost affection and respect, but it's like living in the olden days."
He is a martial artist
and has obtained the rank of Shodan-Ho (probationary 1st degree black belt) in Zen Do Kai.
Langer has written five books. His first was entitled ''From Outback to Outfield: A Revealing Diary of Life on the County Cricket Circuit''. His second, an autobiography released after his return from rock bottom in 2001, entitled ''The Power of Passion''. He also released a book with
Steve Harmison
Stephen James Harmison, (born 23 October 1978) is an English former first-class cricketer, who played all formats of the game. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODIs, and 2 T20s. He also played county cricket ...
entitled ''Ashes Frontline: The Ashes War Diaries of Steve Harmison and Justin Langer'' about the 2006–07 Ashes series in Australia. He also wrote ''Seeing the Sunrise'' which has been described as "a handbook for overcoming self-doubt, for revelling in success, for aiming high. It is about mastering physical and mental goals, enjoying victories and fighting adversity." His most recent book is ''Keeping My Head: A Life in Cricket''.
Melbourne rock band Telemachus Brown wrote a song about Langer entitled ''(Wrong about) Justin Langer''. It was released on their 2006 EP ''Medicine Songs'' and was a hit for the band on Melbourne university radio. The song could be a reference to Langer's transformation from being an average Test batsman in his early career to a world-class opener later in his career.
Langer is a devout
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, as was his Australian opening batsman partner
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Just ...
. Politically, he is conservative, an admirer of former Liberal Australian Prime Minister
John Howard, and considered running for office as a member of the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Austra ...
.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langer, Justin
1970 births
Australian cricket coaches
Australian cricketers
Australian Institute of Sport cricketers
Australia One Day International cricketers
Australia Test cricketers
Living people
Members of the Order of Australia
Middlesex cricket captains
People educated at Aquinas College, Perth
People educated at Newman College, Perth
Rajasthan Royals cricketers
Somerset cricket captains
Cricketers from Perth, Western Australia
Western Australia cricketers
Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Big Bash League coaches
Australian Roman Catholics
Middlesex cricketers
Coaches of the Australia national cricket team