Friday, July 24, 2009

Justin Langer proud to have overtaken Don Bradman's runs record


Somerset captain Justin Langer admitted that he was proud to have overtaken Sir Donald Bradman as Australia's highest run-scorer in first-class cricket.

The former Test left-hander reached the landmark when he passed 95 in Somerset's County Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road.

"A lot of people have been reminding me since I came back," Langer said. "An Australian journalist told me that I needed 65 going into this match so I was focusing on that.

"We came off for rain on Wednesday when I was on 64 but then Peter Trego said I actually needed 95 so I had to start concentrating and focusing again.

"It's a nice milestone and I'm very proud of it. Not because I have passed Sir Donald bradman because he's in a league of his own in every single respect of the game of cricket.

"I met Sir Donald a couple of times. It was a great thrill. From an Australian point of view it's the same as meeting the Queen which I have had the honour of doing on a couple of occasions.

"In Australia he is the epitome of Australian cricket and since I was a little boy I have wanted to be the next Don Bradman. He has had a place in my heart since I started playing."

Langer received warm applause from the majority of the crowd when he reached his landmark which he acknowledged with a sheepish wave.

"I was surprised that people knew that was the record," he said. "Some of the guys were wondering why I got such a big ovation for getting to 95 so I was a bit embarrassed by the ovation to be frank."

The next landmark for Langer could be a century of first-class hundreds though he is uncertain how much longer he will continue playing.

"How much longer will I play? Hand on heart I'm not sure," he said, "There are lots of considerations about whether I will come back to Somerset next year particularly for my family.

"Umpire Mark Benson asked me out in the middle whether I had my sights on a hundred hundreds.

"It's always been an ambition of mine from a long time back. It was always 100 but at the moment it feels like being at the base of Mount Everest. Another 15 hundreds before this one seems a long way off so I have re-set it to 90, If I get 90 then we will have a look at it after that.

"It's hard in this game not to be driven by statistics to a point, hundreds for example. If you have a good day in cricket no one really will recognise that unless you get a hundred."

No comments:

Post a Comment