Langer sure Middlesex will simply do it better

JUSTIN LANGER has one simple target for Middlesex this season - to play better cricket. The Aussie batsman, who has succeeded Mark Ramprakash as captain at Lord's, said: "It may seem the most basic and obvious thing to say but everything springs from how you are playing.

"Yes, of course, we want to be promoted in both the Championship and National League but those things will come automatically if we concentrate on improving as a team.

"There are a lot of talented youngsters at Middlesex like Owais Shah, Andrew Strauss and Robin Weston, who scored three first-class centuries for Derbyshire last season.

"They have to apply themselves and mould their individual games to be successful. You can't buy experience off-the-shelf but I'll be passing on everything I can and if a young player is doing well in the Seconds, he'll get a chance too.

"I'll be judging this season not so much on what we win but on how much we have improved."

The prospect of Langer playing better cricket must be a frightening thought for county bowlers as earlier this year the lefthander was nominated as the world's best batsman by his Australian skipper Steve Waugh.

"That was a nice accolade coming from the guy who really is the best batsman in the world," said Langer.

"I think he said it in the context of current form, and I'd had a very good summer for Australia. Last November someone wrote I was the worst Test batsman around, so you don't get carried away by these things."

Whatever his status on the international stage and despite a mountain of runs in his first two seasons at Middlesex, he's still not a high-profile figure on the county circuit.

Angus Fraser tells a story of having to identify Langer to an autograph hunter in his first months at Lord's and suggesting the fan took a look at the Aussie's statistics.

A current delve would find an impressive career average of 51.5 - mostly scored for Western Australia in the pie-thrower-free zone of the Sheffield Shield - and a Test average that has rocketed past 40.

The good news for Middlesex is that Langer is available for the entire summer, the bad news is he will almost certainly be involved in next year's Ashes tour.

He said: "I wouldn't have taken on the captaincy if I wasn't committed to this club and I don't see it as a one-season job. If I'm not available next year, I'd like to think I'll be back in 2002."

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