Justin Langer’s fierce loyalty to Western Australian players has been a strength of his tenure as coach of that state, but it will create a perception problem for him should he become the new Australian coach.
Langer looks set to take over from Darren Lehmann, who stepped down as Australia’s head coach in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.
That news was broken this week by the West Australian’s John Townsend, one of the country’s most experienced and respected cricket journalists.
Townsend reported that Langer was “understood to be the only candidate to replace Darren Lehmann”. Langer long shaped as the front-runner to earn the role, ahead of former Australian teammates Jason Gillespie and Ricky Ponting.
All three of those men have had coaching gigs with the Australian team over the past few years. Gillespie has also had a greatly successful career coaching in both the English and Australian domestic circuits, while Ponting has focused on coaching T20s.
Gillespie has been backed for the Australian coaching job by former Test captain Ian Chappell, and Ponting has no shortage of admirers as a coach. But it seems that Langer has beaten them out.
In 2009, Langer became Australia’s national batting coach and assistant coach for three years until late 2012 when he was appointed head coach of Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers, a position he’s held ever since.
During his reign, WA have made two Sheffield Shield finals, twice won the domestic One Day Cup, and the Scorchers have been the dominant team in the BBL, winning the title three times in the past five seasons.
That is a seriously impressive resume and one which would well and truly justify his elevation to the national coaching gig. During his reign as head coach of WA and the Scorchers, Langer has become renowned for being a stern leader who demands and commands respect and is fiercely loyal to his players.
So loyal, in fact, that Langer is often derided by cricket fans for the manner in which he regularly and forcefully promotes the national prospects of his WA players.
Anyone who closely follows cricket websites and social media would be well aware Langer has become famous for ‘bigging up’ his players in the media, to the extent that it’s become a meme.
While Langer is a highly-respected figure among Australian cricket fans, there is no doubt his constant promoting of WA players is widely viewed as anything from humorous to annoying.
This perception has become so common that it will tail him during his predicted tenure as Australian coach and will be particularly relevant in the early stages of this posting.
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As Australian coach, Langer would sit on the national selection panel and the picking of any WA players, particularly those without strong domestic records behind them, would be heavily scrutinised.
Of course, selection will account for only a fraction of the scrutiny the next Australian coach will face.
The ball-tampering saga has ensured the on-field behaviour of the players will be under the microscope more than ever. If this behaviour falters, the coach will be held to account.
However, Langer has a fine record in regards to keeping his players in line.
When he took over as WA coach, the state had significant problems with discipline, something that showed in their on-field performances.
While he wasn’t able to immediately eradicate these issues, there is little doubt WA have become a far more professional outfit under his watch. They’ve also experienced greater success.
If Langer can replicate that at the national level, then he will have far greater leeway on the discipline and selection fronts.
But, without the services of Australia’s two best batsmen, whoever takes over as coach will face a monstrous task.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
I think that as a nation we need to have a discussion regarding whether Tim Paine is actually the right choice to be skipper and/or keeper. Paine did a good job in filling in for one test as skipper but I would prefer to see other options investigated (even potentially someone with a lot of experience such as Bailey for a season or 2 as stop gap skipper). Paine should not be a given in the team, let alone as skipper, as it seems many believe him to be. 6 months ago he wasn't even keeping for his State let alone skippering the nation. Someone like Carey is a young gun waiting in the wings that look to be at least as good with the gloves with what seems to be a better upside when batting. A stronger bat like Carey would help Australia to persist with the All-Rounder experiment.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
I don't see any of those papers stating that there man has got the job in the bag ... just the parochial WA Paper!
ehx
Guest
Yeah but he didn't bag players from other states while pushing his own like Langer has. Plus, Only Hayden and for a while Symonds were regular test players he coached at state level,
Bakkies
Guest
Buchanan had coached Queensland prior to getting the Australian job.
Bakkies
Guest
Dizzy was interested in the English job which is going to be up again next year.
Peter
Roar Rookie
Ask Tim Paine. He'll be captain for at least 2 years most likely. I think the captain should have the main say on who's coach. His opinion matters more than anyone else. He'll have to work with a coach constantly and will need someone he can work with and that will help in the areas he's weakest. Heck he may even ask that Bails be made coach.
Peter
Roar Rookie
They'll need a bigger bus to make allowance for the massive chip on his shoulder.
magic
Guest
but don't you think steve waugh don't need any experiance because of his own experiance of captaincy he was a great in fact i believe better than any other tactician as a captain so, this shouldn't be an issue buchanan also wasn't experiance holder when he became the aus coach so, aus should atleast contact him for once
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I don't think his son is an issue anymore than Boof's son coming through was a reason for him to not be coach. qwetzen's comment is the real issue: zero coaching experience!
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Ponting might do a really good job, and he's had success in T20 coaching. But I'm pretty sure he's only ever coached T20. Because of that you'd have to say Langer's "credentials" are better than Ponting's. I'd say Gillespie's credentials are probably better than Langers. He took a team from second division in England through promotion to first and on to the title a couple of times. In first class cricket. Langer's reached the Shield final a couple of times, but hasn't won it, only actually won in short form cricket. So, for the test coaching role, that probably puts the "credentials" in Gillespie's favour. There also has to be the consideration about who actually wants the job. Dizzy and Langer have good gigs that mean they aren't away from home much and is much better for family life than being away from home 10 months of the year. Ponting has only coached in T20 contexts where he just does it for a couple of months and then returns to normal life. Going full time Australian coach is a big lifestyle hit. I can imagine it would be something that would take a lot of discussion with their better halves before accepting a role like that even if they were offered it.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
The main issue with Mitch Marsh isn't whether or not he could be a good captain, but whether he's ever going to be good enough and consistent enough to demand a regular place in the team.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Langer is fiercely loyal to where he comes from. He's a proud Western Australian and always will be. He will always have a WA bias. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as he's aware of it and doesn't let it negatively effect anything. We all have bias. From Don Freo, who'd love to just pick the WA team for Australia, to the people who constantly complain that their states lesser players aren't picked over superior players from NSW, to all the NSW people who know the truth ;-). The important thing isn't to be unbiased, as that's impossible, it's to recognise your bias and make allowances for it and make sure you have people who will keep you accountable who know your bias and can help to give you a nudge in the right direction when you need it. I suspect Langer, as Australian coach, would want the best players possible to be in the team. If there's an almost line ball call between a WA player and a player from another state, he may likely push for the WA player. But that's fine, he's not the only selector.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Yeah, out of Dizzy and Langer I'd suggest Dizzy seems the better coach with the better credentials. But Langer probably isn't a bad choice either. I must admit that it would be a tough appointment to take for either of them. They are both settled where they are and the domestic coaching gigs mean you get to spend most of your time at home. Both have families they wouldn't really want to be leaving for long periods of time. So it's not just a case of the appointment being a promotion, it's also a massive sacrifice to take that job, and the family will likely suffer for it.
George
Guest
"Don’t worry about any perceived WA bias counting against Langer, what about the fact that he is a complete tosser?" Quite.
George
Guest
Yep.
badmanners
Guest
Not good having a captain injured so often though.
bowledover
Guest
I hope Dizzy gets the job as test coach and maybe Punter as T20/ODI coach but still accountable to Dizzy in some fashion (maybe styled as assistant coach). Gillespie seems to be the right man with the right attitude; he has coached in Aus and OS and with success. I am not aware of Langer handling any team but his precious WA players... I wont be greatly disappointed if Langer gets the job, but I still think they should split the Test and Limited overs formats if that occurs.
qwetzen
Guest
Sorry. I was unclear. I meant accused by the media. And I'd opine that you have to go back to when Jack Ryder was a selector to find a time that there wasn't a Blue bias. Idle Factoid: I think Tim Paine has ended the streak of eight consecutive Test captains who have resided in Sinney during their adult lives. The last 'pure' non-Sinney captain being Kim Hughes.
qwetzen
Guest
Would I like you to continue? Certainly! Good comedy is hard to find these days...
Scorching
Guest
Are you serious? He is listing the only examples of ex NSW players who are playing 1st class cricket elsewhere. You should take a second to read the comment before attacking the commenter You dunce.