George Langdale      

Wisden Obituary
Langdale, George Richmond, OBE, died in Holbeck on April 24, 2002, aged 86. Two and three-quarter hours was time enough for the Yorkshire captain Brian Sellers to be haunted by his lightly made remark, early in 1946, that the Yorkshire-born Langdale might be good enough for struggling Somerset. That was all it took for this 30-year-old left-hander, playing only his second game for Somerset, to drive, cut and pull his native county's bowlers for 146 as Somerset raced from 285 for six to 508. Even the Taunton crowd, long accustomed to schoolmasters who annually swapped the classroom for the crease, found his attacking strokeplay a turn-up for the books. Unfortunately, Langdale never came close to a reprise; a couple of sixties was the best he could manage in 18 further appearances for Somerset up to 1949. Even his best first-class bowling was already in the book. On his Somerset debut, two months earlier, he had taken 5 for 30 against Warwickshire on an Edgbaston pitch that helped his offbreaks. Outside first-class cricket, however, there were glory days aplenty. In 1953, while working as an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Langdale took all ten Dorset wickets for 25 at Reading and, with 71 wickets at 13.77 and 502 runs, helped Berkshire win the Minor Counties Championship. He represented the Minor Counties against that summer's Australians to round off a first-class career of 25 games, 709 runs at 18.17 and 23 wickets at 40.82. He had had four Championship games for Derbyshire in 1936 and 1937 while studying at Nottingham University, and played for Norfolk in 1939.
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