Australia coach Justin Langer has shared a pair of elaborate, cryptic posts on his LinkedIn profile on Monday and Tuesday amid the backdrop of criticism around his coaching methods that have been in public discussion since January this year.
Langer, who is currently part of the Australia contingent quarantining in the UAE ahead of the T20 World Cup, turned philosophical on Monday night, quoting a portion from a 2016 book titled Mind Platter by Lebanese-Canadian author Najwa Zebian.
Langer’s first post, which was accompanied by a picture of a man smoking a cigar, began with the line: “A wise man once said: Don’t give them a taste of your own medicine. If they lied, let their medicine be honesty.”
A few hours later, he followed it with another post, beginning with: “Worry is like a rocking chair, it goes back and forward and goes nowhere”. He concluded with the line: “Be happy, be healthy, be calm, be kind, be strong and be yourself”, also the ending part of the first message.
Several assumed that the posts were a veiled response to long-standing criticism around his coaching style, much of which became public in February this year, following a report after the Australia-India Test series that mentioned national players being not happy with his “micro-management”.
Later that month, Langer revealed that the criticism had taken a toll on his personal life, also joking that he was “grumpy and intense” since he was “a 16-year-old”.
In August, there were further reports that he was involved in a heated argument with a member of the digital team around a video that was posted on social media.
While Langer’s LinkedIn posts carried an air of mystery around them, he received ample responses from his connections, including former teammate Damien Martyn, who commented with “Well said champion. Ignore the white noise!”
Australia begin their T20 World Cup campaign on October 23 against South Africa. The complete list of fixtures for the World Cup can be found here.
