Taylor slams Langer for reigniting bitter feud with players

Former Australian Test cricket captain Mark Taylor has fought back at Justin Langer for reigniting a bitter clash between current players and the axed coach - recommending that he thinks about the team before labelling people 'cowards'.

Last week Langer slammed the 'cowards' of Cricket Australia who advocated for his dismissal in spite of his success and reputation with the players. 'A lot of journalists use the word "source",' Langer said in an explosive BackChat podcast episode on Wednesday.

'I would say, change that word to "coward". [...] They've either got an axe to grind with someone and they won't come and say it to your face, or they're just leaking stuff for their own agenda. I hate that.'

Taylor addressed the comments on Nine's Sports Sunday, saying his former teammate wasn't afraid of being confrontational. 'Justin's a combative guy. He's a fighter, was as a cricketer, was as a coach. It is his personality. If he's got a cross to bear or got a bug, he wants the people to know, so he comes out with it.

'The only thing I would say about [...] To Justin or players or administrators in general, I would like to see everyone just think a little bit more about Australian cricket. 'Let's have a bit more positivity around Australian cricket, a little less thought about individual brands and a bit more about the team brand or the nation brand.'

Langer's claims were strongly refuted by Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley, who bluntly spoke of his 'disappointment' at the comments. 'We have not commented to date other than to correct inaccuracies, of which there are a number in Justin's comments,' said Hockley.

Langer coached Australia to T20 World Cup glory last year and to a 4-0 drubbing of England in the Ashes, only to resign less than a month after Australia had retained the urn. The former Australian opener left his role in February after he was not offered the long-term deal he wanted, with Cricket Australia offering him a six-month extension to keep in charge only until the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup.