Langer to quit Aussie cricket

Justin Langer in Western Force Warriors action © Getty Images

Former Test opener Justin Langer has announced an end to his first-class career in Australia.

The 37-year-old will play his final four-day match for Western Australia against Tasmania in the Pura Cup at the WACA, starting on Friday.

"The fire's gone out, there's no doubt about that," said Langer, who earned 105 Test caps before bowing out of international cricket last year.

"Physically and technically I can probably play for another couple of years, but I just know the fire's gone out, so that's why it's been a tough year.

"Even scoring 100 used to mean everything, it used to mean I was happy for a few weeks.

“But now scoring 100 - it's nice, it's nice reward for the hard work, but it doesn't mean everything to me, and because it doesn't mean everything to me anymore it's time to walk away.”

The 37-year-old will fulfil his commitments with English county side Somerset before joining up with the Indian Premier League for two seasons.

Langer will return to Somerset this season © Getty Images

Langer said his career highlight was WA's Sheffield Shield triumph over New South Wales in his debut season of 1991/92.

The left-hander crashed his car on the way to the game but scored a match-winning 149 in the second innings to guide WA to victory after the Warriors crashed to 3-3.

"It was an incredible memory for me," said Langer, who played in two Sheffield Shield wins for the Warriors and also captained the state to a Mercantile Mutual Cup victory in 1999-2000.

"We all talk about mental toughness and eliminating distractions - that was it for me."

Langer made his Test debut against West Indies less than 12 months after that knock.

He scored 7,696 runs in his 105 games at an average of 45.27 with 23 hundreds, 30 half-centuries and a highest score of 250 against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 2002.

He was also the first Western Australian to reach a century of Tests for Australia.

Langer bowed out of international cricket at the start of 2007 following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash against England.

Dennis Lillee lavished praise on Langer © Getty Images

"Justin has been an amazing player for Western Australia and he'll go down as one of the best batsmen ever produced in this state," said fellow Western Australian Dennis Lillee.

"His dedication and application was second to none and I have nothing but admiration for the way he played the game of cricket.

"Because of those outstanding attributes, I sincerely hope that he has a role to play in Western Australian cricket's future."

Tom Moody, a former Australia team-mate and Langer's coach at Western Australia, also paid tribute to the left-hander.

"He has produced phenomenal feats on the field over 17 years at first-class level and has been the ultimate professional and role model to aspiring cricketers," Moody said.

"Players of Justin's calibre come along rarely, and it has been a pleasure to have played alongside him in successful Western Australian teams, and also to have been involved this year as his coach."

Moody also said Langer's match-winning effort against NSW in the Shield final was one of the finest knocks he had ever seen.

"You could tell at that point the sky was the limit because nobody was going to stop him," Moody said.