London: Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Club to former Australia cricketers, Jason Gillespie and Justin Langer.
Langer, a four-time Ashes winner, played 105 Tests for Australia, scoring 7696 runs at an average of 45.27, while Gillespie won 71 Test caps for his country, taking 259 wickets at an average of 26.13. He won the Ashes on three occasions and also has a Test match double century to his name.
Gillespie also appears on the famous Lord's Honours Board after taking 5 for 53 against England in the second Ashes Test in 2001, helping Australia to an eight wicket victory.
Since retirement, both players have gone on to forge successful careers in coaching. Langer with the Perth Scorchers, Rajasthan Royals and Western Australia, and Gillespie with Yorkshire.
The pair are the latest in a long list of players from Australia's golden era to be awarded MCC Honorary Life Membership, following Steve Waugh, Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting.
"It is a great privilege to accept Honorary Life Membership of MCC and I am thrilled to have been recognised in this way. Playing at Lord's was always a very special experience when I represented both Australia and Middlesex and it will be a pleasure to come back as an MCC Honorary Life Member. I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to the Club for this accolade," Langer said.
"I am very humbled and thankful to MCC for the invitation to become an Honorary Life Member, and I was only too happy to accept. Lord's is a fantastic venue to come to both as a player and a coach it's a very special feeling to be invited to be part of MCC," said. Gillespie.
Honorary Life Membership is awarded by the MCC Committee to individuals in recognition of the service they have given to the cricket and projects surrounding the game, often over a very long period.
There are now more than 300 Honorary Life Members of MCC out of a total Full Membership of 18,000.
