Gil Langley

Gil Langley, Australian cricketer, footballer, and politician (died 2001)

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Born: September 14, 1919
Died: May 14, 2001
Zodiac sign: Virgo
Birth year: 1919

About Gil Langley

Gilbert Roche Andrews 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. == Australian Rules footballer == 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. == Cricketer == 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.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

This would stand as the Test record for dismissals by a wicket keeper in a match until it was broken by Bob Taylor in 1980 and stood as an Australian record until 2000.
Langley played his last Test match against India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in November 1956 and retired from first class cricket a month later after scoring a century for South Australia against New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval.

Gil Langley timeline

1945Langley 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.
1953He 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.
1956Langley played his last Test match against India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in November 1956 and retired from first class cricket a month later after scoring a century for South Australia against New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval.
1980This would stand as the Test record for dismissals by a wicket keeper in a match until it was broken by Bob Taylor in 1980 and stood as an Australian record until 2000.

The world when Gil Langley was born

Gil Langley was born in 1919. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1919

Best-selling book"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentBlack Sox scandal — 1919 World Series fixed
Top headlineTreaty of Versailles signed — 18th Amendment (Prohibition)
Technology milestoneFirst nonstop transatlantic flight (Alcock & Brown)
Defining fadOuija boards
Notable inventionPop-up toaster
World population~1.79B

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
U.S. population103.2M

1919 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Gil Langley's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1919	2026
Gas	$0.25	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,000	$435,000
Average income	$2,000	$67,500
Movie ticket	$0.15	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	103.2M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, ESPNcricinfo, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.