Former Australian coach and star cricketer Justin Langer on Wednesday (November 23) expressed his disgruntlement towards the mystery cowards, in the national team, he claims to have betrayed him. With the beef between the older and newer generation of Aussie cricketers already brewing, Langer had a chance to step away from the limelight but instead of going for a dovish approach, he went for a hawkish attitude.
Any attempts to sink the differences after the explosive interview are up in smoke, as the 52-year-old feels hard done by and has a chip on his shoulder that he harbours to this day. Langer insists that he had no issues with getting challenging feedback from the captain and players but had dreaded a smear campaign against him which ultimately brought about the demise of his role as the coach. The acrimonious sentiment festers after Cricket Australia’s decision to offer him only a six-month contract extension, Langer outlined the feedback he received from three captains – Tim Paine, Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins – and his willingness to engage and evolve.
He was manifestly unhappy with the extension of his tenure of ten months after steering Australia to a 4-0 Ashes victory over England about which he still gripes and does not mince words when talking about the plot against him. He admits that he should have constructed better relations with the players in the run-up to his resignation, many players complained of Langer's headmaster-like attitude as a coach, therefore, failing to secure public support to be reinstated as Australia's coach.
"Everyone was being nice to my face, but I was reading about this stuff, and half of it ... I could not believe that is what was making the papers,” he told Code Sports.
“A lot of journalists use the word ‘source’. I would say, change that word to ‘coward’. A coward says, not a source.
“Because what do you mean ‘a source says’? They’ve either got an axe to grind with someone and won’t come and say it to your face, or they’re just leaking stuff for their agenda.”
Langer took the job in 2018 with Australian cricket at its lowest ebb for decades in the wake of a cheating affair and was credited with restoring pride in the beloved baggy green cap.
But grumblings about his micromanaging began to surface about 12 months out from his eventual sacking.
Langer, who will commentate on TV during the Australian Test summer that starts against the West Indies next week, insisted he listened and improved his ways but was still forced out.
“The hardest thing for me of all of it was: I got the feedback (and) I did something about it,” he said.
“We won the T20 World Cup, we won the Ashes. We were number one in the world. I’ve never enjoyed coaching more, and I’ve still got sacked. That’s the hardest thing.”
Langer said his biggest regret was his lack of relationship with Cricket Australia’s board.
“I talked to the Cricket Australia board three times in four years. That’s craziness. And that’s the only thing I’d do differently,” he said.
“Because when you know people haven’t got your back, there is no lonelier place in the world. When you do know people have got your back, there’s no more powerful place in the world. And that’s what I would have done differently.”
