Langer goes past Bradman’s record

Justin Langer has grafted his way past Don Bradman as the highest Australian run scorer in first class cricket. A fine century (107)in the LV County Championship match against Worcestershire on Thursday, which came at a rather brisk pace (off 126 balls), took him past Bradman — the greatest batsman of all times.

Having resumed at the overnight score of 89, the gutsy Somerset captain took 20 minutes to score the six runs he needed to go past the Australian legend. He did it in style when he clipped Matt Mason for a boundary. Later, the same bowler got Langer out for 107, which took his first class aggregate to a staggering 28,080 runs.

Bradman’s first class aggregate stands at 28,067 at an astounding average of 95.14, which came in 234 matches as against Langer’s 354.

Langer made his Test debut in 1993 against the West Indies though his batting blossomed much later in the company of his opening partner Matthew Hayden. The duo went on to become one of the finest opening pairs of all times. In 2001, Langer was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.