Justin Langer

Justin Lee Langer is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. 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 and became the coach of Lucknow based IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants in July, 2023. A left-handed batsman, Langer is best known for his partnership with Matthew Hayden 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 and also Somerset. He holds the record for the most runs scored at first-class level by an Australian. As Australia's coach, he led the team to victory in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Born in Perth, 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 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. 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 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 persisted until Langer's retirement at the conclusion of the 2006–07 Ashes series. 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. Langer's retirement came after several injuries had restricted his batting, including a concussion 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, 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. 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. 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, in January 1993. He received a rough welcome against an in-form West Indian bowling attack, including being hit on the back of the head by his very first ball in Test cricket, delivered by Ian Bishop, who went on to become a close friend in later life. 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, 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 in Hobart, he shared a match-winning 238-run partnership with Adam Gilchrist 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 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 as an opening batsman for the final 2001 Ashes series 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 developed. In this series, Langer scored his top score of 250 against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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 in December 2005 in their match against the West Indies.
In the 2005 Ashes 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 and Phil Jaques 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's player of the season in 2002/03.

Retirement

On 1 January 2007, Langer announced his retirement from Test cricket after the fifth Ashes 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. 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 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 centuries

Langer scored his first Test century against Pakistan at Peshawar in October 1998, scoring 116. He scored his final Test century against England at The Gabba in November 2006. His highest Test score is 250, scored against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 2002.
Langer never made a century in the ODI format; his highest score was 36, which he made against India at Sharjah in 1994.

No.	Score	Against	Batting order \|	Innings#Cricket\|		Venue
1	116		3	1	2/3	Peshawar	Away	15 October 1998	Drawn
2	179 not out		3	1	3/5	Adelaide	Home	11 December 1998	Won
3	127		3	3	4/4	St. John's	Away	3 April 1999	Won
4	127		3	4	2/3	Hobart	Home	18 November 1999	Won
5	144		3	2	3/3	Perth	Home	26 November 1999	Won
6	223		3	2	3/3	Sydney	Home	2 January 2000	Won
7	122 not out		3	4	3/3	Hamilton	Away	31 March 2000	Won
8	102 not out		2	1	5/5	The Oval	Away	23 August 2001	Won
9	104		1	1	1/3	Brisbane	Home	8 November 2001	Drawn
10	123		1	1	2/3	Hobart	Home	22 November 2001	Drawn
11	116		1	1	1/3	Adelaide	Home	14 December 2001	Won
12	126		1	1	3/3	Sydney	Home	2 January 2002	Won
13	250		1	1	4/5	Melbourne	Home	26 December 2002	Won
14	146		1	2	1/4	Georgetown	Away	10 April 2003	Won
15	111		1	3	4/4	St. John's	Away	9 5 2003	Lost
16	121		1	1	1/4	Brisbane	Home	4 December 2003	Drawn
17	117		1	2	4/4	Sydney	Home	2 January 2004	Drawn
18	166		1	3	3/3	Colombo	Away	24 March 2004	Won
19	162		1	1	2/2	Cairns	Home	9 7 2004	Drawn
20	215		1	1	2/2	Adelaide	Home	26 November 2004	Won
21	191		1	1	1/3	Perth	Home	16 December 2004	Won
22	105		1	2	5/5	The Oval	Away	8 September 2005	Drawn
23	100 not out		1	3	1/5	Brisbane	Home	23 November 2006	Won