Esther Laura Talitha de Lange (born 18 February 1984) is a former Dutch international cricketer. She played for the Netherlands women's national cricket team from 2005 to 2016. She played as a right-arm off spin bowler and was national captain in 2015 and 2016.
Personal life De Lange was born in Amsterdam,Esther de Lange – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. and played club cricket for Kampong CC."Esther de Lange nieuwe aanvoerster Oranje" – KNCB (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 October 2015.
International career De Lange first played for a Dutch representative team at the age of 18, when she played a single match at the 2002 European Under-21 Championship in Ireland.Women's miscellaneous matches played by Esther de Lange – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. De Lange made her senior debut for the Netherlands at the 2005 European Championship in Wales, taking 0/20 on her ODI debut against Ireland.Ireland Women v Netherlands Women, Women's European Championship 2005 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. She did not make another appearance at that level until the 2010 edition of the same tournament, which again came against Ireland.Women's ODI matches played by Esther Lange – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. Later in the year, de Lange was selected in the Dutch squad for the ICC Women's Challenge in South Africa, which featured five other teams playing both ODI and T20I tournaments. Against Pakistan in the ODI tournament, she took 4/43 from 10 overs, a personal best.Netherlands Women v Pakistan Women, ICC Women's Cricket Challenge 2010/11 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
In April 2011, de Lange played for the Dutch side in two ODI and T20I tournaments hosted by Sri Lanka, with the other teams being Ireland, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Her best performance there was 3/16 in an ODI against Ireland, which the Netherlands went on to lose by only a single run.Ireland Women v Netherlands Women, Women's Quadrangular Series 2010/11 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. At the 2011 World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh, she was her team's leading wicket-taker, finishing with five wickets overall and a best of 3/45 against South Africa.Netherlands Women v South Africa Women, ICC Women's World Cup Qualifying Series 2011/12 (Group A) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. As a result of its failure to finish in the top six at that tournament, the Netherlands lost both its ODI status and its T20I status.Women's Int Twenty20 matches played by Esther de Lange – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. In ODIs, she was ranked in the top 10 for both wickets taken and best bowling average for the Netherlands.Records / Netherlands Women / Women's One-Day Internationals / Best averages – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 October 2015.Records / Netherlands Women / Women's One-Day Internationals / Most wickets – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
After the World Cup Qualifier, the next major international event for de Lange was the 2012 European T20 Championship, which saw the Netherlands qualify for the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier in Ireland. At the World Twenty20 Qualifier, however, she went wicketless from five matches, the only specialist Dutch bowler to do so.Bowling for Netherlands women, ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 October 2015. De Lange spent the 2013–14 Northern Hemisphere off-season playing in Australia, turning out for a Perth club, Midland-Guildford. Prior to the 2015 season, it was announced that she would replace Denise Hannema as captain of the Netherlands. Her first international tournament as captain was the 2015 World Twenty20 Qualifier in Thailand.(28 September 2015). "Damestraject richting WK-kwalificatie gestart" – KNCB (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 October 2015.
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