Ex-Australia head coach Justin Langer has hit out at some of his former players for leaking complaints about his leadership to the media during his time in charge of the side, labelling them “cowards”.
In an interview published by News Corp on Wednesday, Langer complained that players were not honest enough about their dissatisfaction with his leadership style, instead complaining anonymously to the media.
“Everyone was being nice to my face,” Langer said. “But I was reading about this stuff and half of it, I swear to God and on my kids’ lives, I could not believe that is what was making the papers.
“A lot of journalists use the word ‘source’. I would say, change that word to ‘coward’. Because what do you mean ‘a source says’? 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.”
Langer decided not to renew his contract with Cricket Australia earlier this year, after being offered only a six-month contract extension despite guiding the team to victory in the 2021 T20 World Cup and the following home Ashes series.
His decision followed months of speculation that the relationship between the coach and his players had broken down, with reports that some players felt micro-managed by the former opening batter.
Langer was appointed to the head coach position following the resignation of Darren Lehman in the aftermath of the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. During his first year in charge of the team, Paine and Usman Khawaja were seen on the Amazon Prime documentary, The Test, saying the team was “walking on eggshells” around him. A former Cricket Australia media manager also penned a stinging rebuke of Langer’s style.
However, Langer’s opinion is that he responded to the criticism well, making his departure hard to take.
“The hardest thing for me of all of it was: I got the feedback [and] I did something about it,” Langer said. “We won the T20 World Cup, we won the Ashes. We were No. 1 in the world. I’ve never enjoyed coaching more and I’ve still got sacked. That’s the hardest thing.
“Because you can’t give someone feedback, do something about it, and then that to happen.”
Since formally leaving the head coach role earlier this year, Langer has expressed his frustration with Cricket Australia over their handling of the situation which led to his resignation, branding it “bull**** politics”.
Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley responded to Langer’s complaints on Wednesday, stating he wanted to “correct inaccuracies” in Langer’s recollection of events.
“We have not commented to date other than to correct inaccuracies, of which there are a number in Justin’s comments,” Hockley said on Wednesday. “Regular formal and informal opportunities to provide and receive feedback took place throughout his tenure, which is consistent with a high performance environment. Following a comprehensive process, Justin was offered a short-term contract extension, which he rejected.
“I am disappointed by Justin’s comments unfairly criticising some of our players. The playing group are aware they have my full support. After an excellent performance against England in the one-day international series, we are fully focussed on an exciting Test series against the West Indies and South Africa, with the first Test starting at Perth Stadium next Wednesday.”
