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Sandwichgate: The best jokes and memes

Sandwichgate Langer
by Wisden Staff 3 minute read

After Sandpapergate and Scuffgate, Australia cricket has found itself in the middle of a bizarre Sandwichgate (or Toastgate?) incident, following details of head coach Justin Langer’s rather stringent rules around eating habits.

On Saturday, a report in Sydney Morning Herald indicated that several players of the Australia team have been “frustrated” by Langer’s management style and are feeling bogged down by the 50-year-old’s “intensity and mood swings”, amid talks of micromanagement and a “headmaster-like” approach.

However, a particular segment of the report has cracked up Twitter users, detailing Langer’s disapproval of an unnamed player carrying a toasted sandwich in his pocket to eat on the field during the Brisbane Test of the recent Australia-India series.

While the players are reportedly unhappy by the constant monitoring, Justin Langer seems convinced by his approach, stating that coaching is “not a popularity contest”, also speaking out about the particular ‘toast’ incident.

“You’re walking on against India, we’re trying to win a Test match and one of our players walks on with a toasted sandwich in his hand,” Langer said. “I spoke to [the player] about it at length yesterday. I said, ‘How do you reckon it looks, mate?’ Is that not something I should say?“

Marnus Labuschagne turned out to be a rather popular suspect.

Others  were quick to pull out a video of Nic Maddinson munching on a sandwich in the field during a domestic game in 2014. Could that explain the highly rated Australian’s absence from the national side?

Others pointed to Langer’s own history of strange actions on a cricket field.

Some wondered whether toasties might have uses beyond their calorific value.

Others made more lighthearted reference to the sandpaper incident.

There were, of course, puns a plenty.

The more photoshop savvy got their styluses out, with contrasting results.

Some, however, were tired of the jokes before they had even started.

Most were equal parts baffled and delighted by the weirdness of the story.

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