Opening defence is rock solid
Coach gets on front foot against critics
JUSTIN Langer is making no apologies. He get’s grumpy, he admits that. He hates losing. He admits that too. He sets high standards, but he says that is what Australian cricket deserves: people aren’t playing for a T20 franchise when they wear the baggy green.
He laughs at some of the criticism: “I’m the grumpiest prick in the world because I told Marnus Labuschagne not to take a toasted ham and cheese sandwich (to the dugout) after his 40-minute lunch break …”.
He says they all have a lot to learn from the loss to India, conceding they may have expected to win the series after such a convincing victory in Adelaide and comparing that to Australia’s 1999 tour of the West Indies.
He says he is not going anywhere — in fact he wouldn’t mind staying beyond his contract, which ends after the Ashes, to go back to India at the end of 2022.
Langer is, however, disappointed with anonymous claims that he has a poor relationship with the players.
In an interview with the Cricket Et Cetera podcast, the coach spoke about the added pressures during the pandemic and the challenges of coaching people — some of whom are younger than his daughters.
Langer says it might not be the real world, but cricket is a difficult workplace. He told of how many times young men broke down in his office when he coached Western Australia.
There was criticism of Tim Paine after the Sydney Test for sledging but many critics turned on Langer and his coaching style after Brisbane.
“We’ve all had challenges in the last nine months, everyone is under a lot of pressure, we’ve just been beaten by India and it was a great series, it was great for Test cricket, but it’s more fun winning than losing,” Langer said. “I would suggest there isn’t a single team in the world that if you are losing everyone is under pressure.
“The last few weeks have been Painey and now this week it is going to be my turn and the only disappointing thing for me … is that I read a piece today saying something about elite honesty and being honest with myself.
“One thing I am very good at (is self reflection and learning). I get advice all the time, one thing I do is I learn and I get better.”
Some of the criticisms appear to have originated from within the change rooms, which upsets Langer.
“The only disappointing thing from the weekend’s reports was there was discussion things were coming from within the camp,” he said.
“You know me, I’m a pretty simple bloke and let’s get this on the record: yeah I am intense, yeah I am serious, I am.
“Do I get grumpy sometimes? Yeah I get grumpy sometimes, I’m not perfect that’s for sure, but I’m pretty good at some of the things I do and you just don’t like it when you feel people — through managers or players, whatever — I would rather they came straight to me, that’s the Australian way as I know it, let’s talk through it, let’s go through it and work things out.”