By Duane Ranger.
It was like Tim Lang’s body spoke to him, and ultimately told him what professional sport to pursue.
The 39-year-old Director of Cricket at St Joseph’s Nudgee College, could have signed on with the Canberra Raiders when he was in his last year of secondary school.
Instead Lang’s body shape ensured a different path in life. Instead of tackle, tackle, tackle, tackle, tackle, kick, the New South Wales native pursued God’s greatest game in his late teens, and then went on to represent New South Wales in cricket.
“I think my body told me what sport to follow. I made the NSW Country Under-18 (rugby league) side as a stand-off and went all right, but at the time I thought I had a brighter future with cricket,” said Lang who now stands at six foot five and still boasts a body similar to that of any international right-arm quick bowler.
And Lang could throw them down at a rate of knots too.
“At my peak, which was the 2005 Sydney Club Premier Club Final my team mate Dan Christian told me that was the quickest he had seen me bowl. I was up around the late 130s (kmph), but generally around the late 120s,” Lang said.
“That was a real grudge. I played for the University Of NSW and we hated Sydney University. That grudge has gone on for years, and I was rapt to get the man-of-the-match that year,” Lang said.
Former club-mate, Christian, now 37, is a T20 specialist and is still a close friend of Lang. The tough all-rounder played 19 one-day internationals and 16 T20s for Australia. Lang’s four NSW caps came via T20 with two first class games and one list A game for South Australia
Dan was a real team-man, and one of the best cricketers I’ve ever played with. He has done a lot for indigenous cricket – the same as what we do here at Nudgee.
Lang has also played top level State and Club cricket alongside some of the greats of our game like Steve Smith, David Warner, Simon Katich and Michael Clarke, and fellow University of NSW team mates Tom Cooper, Chris Tremain, David Dawson and Dan Christian.
Not only has Lang been at the helm of Nudgee Cricket since October 2017, but the dedicated husband to Amber, and Dad to Ashton & Emilia, has cricketing blood gushing through his Mudgee veins long before he came to Nudgee.
Yes, you read it correctly. Lang was a Mudgee original long before he became a Nudgee man.
In fact, Mudgee, which is 3.5 hours west of Sydney, played a huge part in both Lang’s life and early cricket addiction.
The Lang family was renowned for being a family of cricketers.
“I can remember playing almost as long as I remember standing. My grandfather (Les Lang) played senior cricket, as did my father (Elwyn) and all of his brothers.
“I grew up with Dad coaching me. My brother Matt, who was 18 months older than me, was also a big influence early on. Dad played 1st grade cricket for Western Suburbs in Sydney and my brother Matt played rugby league for the Canterbury Bulldogs and St George Dragons.
The former Mudgee High School student tasted State level cricket in the late 1990s when he was selected for the NSW Schoolboys XI.
“I remember we played Queensland Schoolboys in Mackay that year and Shane Watson was captain of the home State. Then I got selected for the NSW 19s squad and from there I started to get pretty serious about a future in cricket,” Lang said.
He said his father was the man who encouraged him to further his cricket at this time of his life.
“He got inside my head. He was blatantly honest and improved the mental side of my game no end. Then back in the day there was Stuart Webster (my Western Zone U17’s coach), who was a really good technical coach and tough taskmaster, who turned me from a promising cricketer into a hardened one ready to take on the best players in Sydney.”
After leaving Mudgee, Lang made his 1st Grade debut and played a couple of seasons at Penrith under Australian, Trevor Bayliss, who became the former England and Sri Lanka coach.
“Then I moved on with St George Cricket Club and played alongside top players Graeme Rummans, Nathan Pilon and Stuart MacGill. That was actually the club Don Bradman played for as well.
Then in 2004 Lang was snapped up by the University of NSW. They won the Limited overs Grand Final in 2005, the year Lang gobbled up 50-plus wickets in a season.
The bowling all-rounder remained with the University Of NSW Cricket Club with the exception of a season with the South Australian Redbacks in 2010/11 where he made his first class debut against England at the Adelaide Oval. After injuring his right knee he ventured back to Sydney in mid 2011 where he began his coaching journey as Head Coach of University of NSW Cricket Club.
“I coached for four years at Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill in Sydney’s wealthy eastern suburbs and did odd jobs as well. I enjoyed my time there and learnt a lot, but they had 12 turf wickets but didn’t have the luxury of space or quality cricket facilities we are blessed with at Nudgee.
“I cut my teeth at Cranbrook and got all my coaching certificates up to a Cricket Australia Level Three accreditation. I came to Nudgee College in 2017 fired up, and still am. I’m very passionate about the game and the ‘blue and white’.
“I’ve tried very hard to change the culture, values and the way we go about cricket at the school.
“I now have a very good feel for cricket at Nudgee College, and even with all the awesome redevelopment happening here, I still have bigger and brighter goals on the field,” Lang said.
Lang said his wife Amber, played a big part in the Lang migration north.
“Amber is from Murwillumbah (just south of the QLD/NSW border) so it’s closer to home for her. We have adjusted well and the two of us love it here.
“I have goals and aspirations for the future. My main focus is our continued skill development for our younger crop of players (Years 5/6/7) and ensuring we have the best available coaches and mentors in front of them. Development Tours to the Sunshine Coast, and perhaps visits to Melbourne every couple of years. New Zealand is also an option,” Lang said.
“I just know I’m very grateful to be working in a high class cricket facility and school, which has produced many Australia and Queensland reps over the years including our current 2020 national reps Joe Burns, and Mitchell Swepson.
“Nudgee College is the perfect place to launch a cricketing career and enjoy playing the game of cricket with mates. I did it. I want our boys to go bigger,” he added.
Meanwhile the St Joseph’s Nudgee College multi million dollar redevelopment overseen by Lang includes 20 synthetic practice wickets including 6 bowling machines and 2 x spin wickets along with our turf wicket practice facility which will launch in Term 4, 2021.
Footnote: Watch Tim Lang here during his man-of-the-match effort for the University of NSW v Sydney University in the 2005 Premier Club Final:
You know when your hearts invested and you need to follow your dreams , that’s a great inspiring story and encouraging to young fellows who love cricket or any sport. Always enjoy these great reads from Duane Ranger he knows how to tell it like it is.