Highlight
Cricket Australia head supported the leadership of Justin Langer
Langer had to deal with bad reactions earlier this year
CA head stated Langer’s efforts have restored the team’s public faith.
Cricket Australia executive Nick Hockley defended Justin Langer on Wednesday when his anxiety over managing his position in the Twenty 20 World Cup and a home Ashes roster generated some uncertainty.
On Wednesday, Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley defended Justin Langer, after he became more concerned about his style of management and raised questions over his position on the World Cup and the Home Ashes series. Earlier this year, the Australian coach was compelled to confront negative comments as discontent arose over his leadership and changing moods. He took the criticism on board and recognized that most of his life was “grumpy and intense.” After reports of a heated fight with a journalist for Cricket Australia after a disappointing white-ball tour of the West Indies and Bangladesh, Langer faced another controversy in the previous week.
The fight in the team hotel, with players and staff watching, is reported to have led to heated media speculation about the future.
Hockley hailed Langer’s “amazing work” in rebuilding Australian cricket culture after he was hired in the wake of the disastrous 2018 Sandpaper Gate ball-tampering tour of South Africa.
“The effort has restored public confidence in the national squad, which can be extremely proud of on the side of all Australians,” he declared in a statement.
Hockley didn’t explicitly question the style of Langer’s administration, but observed that during the pandemic with border restrictions and players living in bubbles that were “very disruptive and hard 18 months.”
“Despite these hurdles, the side succeeded a wonderful day when all players were available in the Test and T20 cricket,” he said.
“Justin, his coaching staff, and team leaders play an equally essential role in guaranteeing the Australian cricket squad a successful summer.”
Earlier this week, Langer’s friend and former teammate Adam Gilchrist stated that increasing speculation about his situation may “remove the summer.”
“The biggest problem… is that there is a direct line of contact between these journalists and those within the inner sanctum, which the people in that inner sanctuary are glad to let go,” he said.
Trigger hair
Aaron Finch, a white ball skipper, said he thought Australia’s recent poor form has intensified friction in Langer’s relations, but it’s “no good look” for players to disclose secrets.
“When you don’t get results, there is always anxiety,” he told SEN commercial radio on Wednesday. “It is frustrating that things come the way they are.”
While Langer has been praised internationally for rehabilitating the Australian team’s culture, rumors of conflict in the dressing room were never far away.
During their 2019 Ashes tour of England, Malcolm Conn, who was media manager for an Australian team, said he respected Langer but soon learned to keep away.
“You never knew if your inquiry would be answered or explosion,” he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald in a paper.
Conn highlighted players who walk around Langer on eggshells and his “sudden fixation with things… that didn’t seem too important”
“When Langer’s latest blow-up in the recent tour of Bangladesh, like many of these minor events, it’s nothing in isolation, but it’s part of an irregular pattern of behavior,” he said.
