Nine reasons why I'm not on board with Justin Langer's appointment

Justin Langer has been named the new coach of the Australian men’s cricket teams. But don’t pop the champagne just yet.

Here are ten reasons to be circumspect about this appointment.

1. The four-year term
Players don’t get this sort of security. Not many employees in the modern world do, but Langer does.

Four years is a long, long time.

2. One coach in charge of three formats
Cricket Australia had a great opportunity to shake this up, but no – we’re stuck with Langer in Tests, one-dayers and T20s.

Why?

Darren Lehmann struggled coaching all three formats – our international T20 side only performed well in one series, our ODI team has been shockingly weak since the World Cup, and our Test team has been poor overseas for over a decade.

Come to think of it, Mickey Arthur and Tim Nielsen weren’t too crash hot in handling all three formats, either.

It’s unrealistic to expect one coach to stay on top of things in the modern game. You’re going to get a sameness of ideas and players, and a dissipation of energy.

(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

3. He’s publicly pushed his favourites like a PR firm
Langer has lobbied his agenda with NRA-level skill. No coach can match him when it comes to generating positive publicity.

Remember at the start of last summer when he pushed for Cameron Bancroft to replace Matt Renshaw, and Shaun Marsh to replace (presumably) Glenn Maxwell? Next was a push for Mitchell Marsh over (presumably) Peter Handscomb for the third Test. And he asked selectors to show faith with Bancroft, as opposed to going back to Renshaw.

“So what?” you might ask. “He’s state coach. Shouldn’t he promote his players?”

No other coach is so relentless.

And I found the lobbying-by-media depressing, as I did the criticising-non-WA-players.

What made it even worse was that it worked – the selectors chucked Renshaw, Maxwell and Handscomb, then presumably wondered why Australia’s batting still kept collapsing in South Africa.

James Sutherland said Langer partly got the coaching job because “Western Australia has more nationally-contracted male players than any other state for 2018-19.” In part that’s because of Langer’s incessant lobbying. Cricket Australia’s media arm could learn a lot from him.

4. His spin to the press
Not all of them buy it, but there is a segment who swallow everything Langer says uncritically, trotting out the same narrative about him turning back Western Australia from the brink of destruction in 2012, the four daughters, the martial arts, the steely determination.

And the quotes. Oh dear God, the quotes.

And it’s depressing to read all these writers doing PR for Langer.

Having said that, I do think he’s going to find it a leap going from facing the mostly sympathetic Perth press to the more critical national media.

5. He’s bagged players in public
When Marcus Harris left WA Langer called him “mediocre with flashes of brilliance” in public.

His fans would argue that it was honest – I would counter it was just mean and depressing.

6. The No Asshole Rule
Langer keeps a book with this title displayed in his office.

“It is a reminder that we don’t want knobs in our organisation,” said Langer.

What’s a knob? Who gets to decides who is and isn’t a knob? Is there criteria? Is it Langer alone who decides? What if Langer is a knob? Does anyone tell him?

At state level, this isn’t as dangerous because players can always move to another state. But you can only play for one country.

[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]

7. He seems to get angry a lot
Whether it’s about being called a brown-nosed gnome or being questioned on bundling or losing players for finals, or being sledged by the Barmy Army, or losing Craig Simmons from the Scorchers.

You might argue that everyone has bad days, but do you read about any other coaches consistently losing it?

His fans excuse this as ‘passion’.

This will make some post-defeat press conferences interesting.

8. Is his track record that awesome?
It’s pretty good at state level – WA have won a bunch of T20 and one-day titles under Langer, and made two Shield finals.

But they haven’t won the Sheffield Shield.

And none of the current WA players who made the Test team (or got back into the Test team) under Langer’s watch have locked down their spots – the Marshes (even them, even after all this time), Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Bancroft.

Going further back, Langer wasn’t that successful as Australia’s batting coach – the team would collapse all the time. Australia’s T20 team lost to Sri Lanka under him as coach in 2017.

He’s had successes, absolutely, I just think more careful scrutinising of his record wouldn’t go astray.

9. It shows Cricket Australia weren’t all that serious about cultural change
Many of us suspected as much after Pat Howard and James Sutherland kept their jobs, but it was still kind of a drag to have it confirmed.

They didn’t wait for the culture review to come through, they didn’t appoint a temporary coach, they gave a four-year-all-formats contract to a person who was already Darren Lehmann’s anointed successor and who seemed to have a lot of influence around the selection table.

And, just to ensure everything’s all smooth and seamless, Langer’s going to be part of the review process.

Langer works hard, was a great player, has had success in WA, talks a good game, and some players absolutely love him.

But I think the whole thing is going to end badly.