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Full name | Gilbert Roche Andrews Langley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
North Adelaide, South Australia |
14 September 1919|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 14 May 2001 Fullarton, South Australia |
(aged 81)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting style | Right-hand bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling style | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gilbert Roche Andrews "Gil" Langley (14 September 1919 – 14 May 2001) was an Australian Test cricketer, champion Australian rules footballer and member of parliament, serving as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1977 to 1979 for the Don Dunstan Labor government.
Born in North Adelaide, South Australia, Langley attended public schools and gained an apprenticeship as an electrician. He also gained a reputation as an all round sportsman, starring in cricket and Australian rules football as a junior, being coached in both by former Test cricketer and leading footballer Vic Richardson.
Langley made his debut as a rover for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Sturt in 1939, playing 163 games and kicking 341 goals, captaining the club in 1945 and 1947 and winning Sturt's Best and Fairest award in 1945 and 1946. He also played 11 games for South Australia (kicking 19 goals), including a stint as captain and, while stationed in Melbourne in the munitions department during World War II, Langley played four games for Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), including an appearance in the 1943 VFL Grand Final. He retired from football at the end of the 1950 season.
Langley made his first-class cricket debut as a specialist batsman for South Australia on 14 December 1945 against New South Wales and first kept wicket in first class cricket in December 1947. He immediately made an impression for his tidy work behind the stumps and he was chosen for Australia's 1949-50 tour to South Africa, although he did not play a Test. Langley eventually made his Test debut at the Gabba during the 1951/52 series against the West Indies in place of the injured Don Tallon. He took three catches and four stumpings and, following Tallon's retirement in 1953, became the first choice wicket keeper for Australia until his retirement in 1956.