Con de Wet de Lange (11 February 1981 – 18 April 2019) was a cricketer who represented

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was a

left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven ...

all-rounder and a right-handed batsman. Born in South Africa, De Lange made his first-class debut for Boland in March 1998 against the touring

Sri Lankans This is a demography of the population of Sri Lanka including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the population, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Sri Lanka is an island in th ...

. He played for

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northa ...

in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. In October 2018,

Cricket Scotland Cricket Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Cricket Union, is the Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Scotland. The body is based at the National Cricket Academy, Edinburgh. The SCU was formed in 1908, but unde ...

announced that de Lange was suffering from a

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

. In April 2019, the

Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In ...

confirmed that de Lange had died.

International career

De Lange played for Scotland in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in June 2015. He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) debut for Scotland against Ireland on 19 June 2015, although no play was possible due to rain. He made his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) debut for Scotland against Afghanistan on 4 July 2016. De Lange's international career lasted thirteen ODIs and eight T20Is,.Con de Lange: Scotland all-rounder dies aged 38 after brain tumour

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019. He was the team's vice-captain for the Desert T20 Challenge tournament, which was played in the United Arab Emirates in January 2017. His most famous moment for Scotland came against Zimbabwe in June 2017, when his match haul of five wickets for 60 helped his team cause a famous upset, with their first win against a full member of the ICC.

Illness and death

Shortly after the victory over Zimbabwe, de Lange started missing games in the World Cricket League (WCL) championships in Dubai. Initially, the reason given for his absence was "severe migraine headaches". Upon his return to Scotland for further tests, a far more severe diagnosis was made. De Lange played his last international match for Scotland, an ODI against Papua New Guinea, on 25 November 2017. The results of medical tests were not published initially, and it was only during the 2019 World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, played in October 2018, that Cricket Scotland sent a press release stating that the then 37-year old de Lange had been battling a brain tumour for the past 10 months. After the diagnosis, de Lange underwent a series of treatments, which included an operation followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatment.Con de Lange

, 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019. Together with his wife Claire and children, de Lange set up a fundraising appeal called 'Brain Tumour Charity', in memory of a close friend who died from the disease. As part of the initiative, the de Langes arranged walks to raise donations. On 18 April 2019, de Lange died at the age of 38.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:de Lange, Con 1981 births 2019 deaths Boland cricketers Cape Cobras cricketers Cricketers from Bellville, South Africa Deaths from brain cancer in Scotland Free State cricketers Knights cricketers 21st-century South African sportsmen Northamptonshire cricketers South African expatriate cricketers in England Scotland cricketers Scotland One Day International cricketers Scotland Twenty20 International cricketers Scottish cricket coaches Scottish cricketers South African cricket coaches South African cricketers White South African people Ferguslie CC players