We are two days on from the end of an Ashes thrashing. England have slunk home amidst reports of a drinking culture and fat-shaming, and Australia have been celebrating with beers and victory songs at a Hobart pub.
But there is still a strange shadow hanging over the team in the intriguing shape of Justin Langer.
That the coach is in a seemingly precarious situation has surprised many cricket fans – including a fair number of The Roar readers who wonder if it’s all an invention of the media.
Andrew Wu, of the Sydney Morning Herald, was at it again on Tuesday, suggesting that nothing has changed in player perceptions of Langer, even in the wake of a 4-0 Ashes success.
“Justin Langer’s coaching fate is expected to be decided before Australia’s mooted Test tour of Pakistan, with key players unmoved on their stance on the coach despite the national men’s team’s recent success,” Wu wrote.
“Cricket Australia high-performance boss Ben Oliver will make a recommendation to the board in the next few weeks over the structure of the head coach role after assessing the team’s upcoming calendar.
“Ordinarily, a coach who has won the country’s first men’s Twenty20 World Cup and retained the urn in such convincing fashion would be walking into head office to name his price, but this is not the case with Langer.
“The Test great has been unable to win over his players, who let him know early last year of their issues with his intensity, mood swings and management style. It took a player mutiny requiring intervention from then CA chairman Earl Eddings and chief executive Nick Hockley for Langer to change.”
During the Hobart Test there was the odd scenario of Trevor Bayliss – a former player at Cummins’ grade club Penrith – being mooted as the man ready to replace Langer, a story that emerged from UK reporters.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Former cricketers have raced to support Langer. Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting joined Shane Warne and Michael Vaughan on the final day of the Ashes series to argue strongly that Langer deserved to keep his job beyond the end of his contract mid year.
On Wednesday statements from current captain Pat Cummins were under the spotlight in a piece by Australian writer Gideon Haigh in The Times newspaper.
Haigh wrote of the “bizarro world where Joe Root, the England captain, keeps affirming his support for Chris Silverwood, whom everyone thinks should go, while Pat Cummins, Root’s Australia counterpart, has a capacity, probably unintentional, for still sounding a little ambivalent about Langer.”
Earlier in the Ashes, Cummins fobbed off Langer questions, and he was at it again after the Hobart Test.
“That’s above my pay grade,” Cummins said at his post-match press conference. “We’ll wait and see, it’d be nice to have clarity for everyone.
“He’s been doing a fantastic job, we absolutely love JL.
“He’s been really great through the World Cup and the Ashes. Honestly, it’s not been a talking point at all within the camp.
“The plan has always been to chat about it after the Ashes, so the powers that be, I’m sure, will chat at some stage. But he’s been fantastic for us and the boys love having him around.”
Haigh argued that it was disingenuous of Cummins to present decisions concerning coaching appointments as “above my pay grade” and the prerogative of the “powers that be”.
The writer was clearly not feeling the professed “love”.
“The fact is that there’s nobody above his pay grade, and his voice is as powerful as anyone’s, if not more so,” he wrote.
“Let’s cut through the crap on this. If Cummins planted his weight solidly behind Langer, 51, it would be an obdurate Cricket Australia board that overrode him; if Cummins considered the time ripe for change, that argument would need to be heeded also.
“Cummins has not put a foot wrong this season — this is his first main challenge. He will be forced to take a position by which he will then be judged.”
Langer, Haigh argues, has “proven more flexible and thoughtful than detractors would have predicted, and the team have achieved success.
“Were he to lose the job now, he would appear to have been judged on who he had been, rather than what he has become.”
Cummins, a tardy declaration aside, had the perfect start to his captaincy career. He will be emboldened and feel his voice will be carrying much weight in the coming weeks. There has been no sign of faltering or doubt in how he has embraced the job, and Cricket Australia is likely to continue to back their man.
And perhaps it’s unfair to expect much more from him in way of supportive words, although each sentence has has been perfectly measured.
It means a nervous wait once again for Langer, who admitted being affected by the talk before the T20 World Cup over his approach.
“Everyone was telling me what a bad person I was,” he said.
“At times, it felt like I was being treated like a criminal, and my only crime is trying to coach the Australian cricket team.
“Last winter was horrible for my family. You hit rock bottom, and you’re the criminal for whatever reason.”
It is hard to believe that the court of public opinion wouldn’t find overwhelmingly for Langer right now.
Former Australian player Simon O’Donnell might as well have summed up the case for the defence on SEN on Monday.
“I just find it extraordinary that there’s a debate,” O’Donnell said.
“Is there a sport in the world where as coach you can go and win the ultimate prize in a format of the game – which is the T20 cricket World Cup – and then go on and win a five Test series 4-0 against the old foe in an Ashes series as coach, and still be questioned whether you should keep your job or not?
“I know we’ve just come off a 4-0 win in a series – but I think as important as players are and their opinion is, you still always need a decision maker and a really firm hand to give that guidance.
“Just every now and then a little ‘hurry-up’ needs to be dished out to make sure everyone’s on the same page.
“You need a coach and a strong administration to do that, and I just can’t even believe it’s being questioned.”
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
CA can't appoint a guy as captain and then try to gag him . Journos have a funny way of twisting press conferences or whatever people say to suit their own agenda. But it seems Pat is his own man is not afraid to speak honestly . Bit hard to bag the guy after what he's achieved so far . The Khawaja incident was a good example and it's probably something Langer should have been on top of .
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Why is it that CA doesn't appear at all interested in telling these *alleged* senior players to stop leaking to the press? Shirley whining about the coach is "bringing the game into disrepute".
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Cummo really wants to say about JL, "I wanna tell him that I love 'im but the point is probably moot"
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
Well put.
Kim Philby OBE OL
Roar Rookie
Paul, I got a bit wary when Wu wrote “ Australia’s mooted Test tour of Pakistan.” Funnily enough, Tony Harper uses mooted correctly only a few paragraphs further when he says “ Trevor Bayliss.. being mooted as the man to replace Langer.” My apologies for being boring!
Chanon
Roar Rookie
If Langer gets the boot he will lineup as Poms coach & revenge will be sweet n the next Ashes series. Worst case scenario plus they play the three amigos Cummins, Hazlewood & Starc for the last series together best case scenario :laughing:
Chris Love
Roar Guru
Are they still unhappy though? Where is he getting that from? From the outside going back 18months ago, Langer’s style was starting to grate on a few of them. That’s normal especially when you are trying to reshape the behaviour and culture of a team back from the depths they were in. Sure Marnus getting scollded for eating sandwiches on the sidelines may see, petty to a few. But have you seen Marnus? Maybe that was the straw that broke the camels back? All that is kind of irrelevant I think now. Mr Wu has either chosen not notice because it doesn’t fit his click bait or has an inside man. Because from the outside, it looks to me that JL has taken those concerns from 18 months ago and adapted his style to one that is working wonders. His primary job is getting individuals to improve themselves. He’s shown over the last 18 months that he is doing the same and leading by example on that front. At times his role is to pull certain personalities back in line. Maybe a few thought that went a little too far a while back. Bayliss didn’t seem to do too good a job at that recently for a England. One thing is for sure Australia can’t have a coach without a spine. Players can’t walk all over him, and certainly shouldn’t be deciding his employment. We’ve seen what happens time and again when the players dominate the culture.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Whilst I agree the on-field results since the most recent "intervention" have been excellent and thoroughly worthy of Langer keeping his job, they are not the only factor that needs to be considered in whether he keeps his job. To use an example (which I am NOT saying is directly applicable to Langer), if a business had a manager who was getting fantastic sales results but was a horrible bully and made life unpleasant for his employees, the business should get rid of the manager because the sales results are not the only part of his job. By all reports, the behaviours that caused problems with the players and support staff have improved since the most recent intervention. But to those of us outside the inner sanctum, we don't have enough information to know whether Langer is doing a good job or not now. He's certainly ticked the box with on-field results but it's perfectly correct for Pat Cummins to say the hiring and firing of the coach is above his pay grade - CA management must make the decision based on all aspects of his performance.
Richie
Roar Rookie
Perfect Pat can become Captain Coach! :stoked:
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Whatever Cummins is saying publicly, it seems one or more players are still unhappy and letting journalists from the Nine Newspapers know about it. Andrew Wu, Malcolm Conn and today Andrew Webster have all written about it. A story like this simply wouldn't go to print without it being confirmed by multiple sources. You can certainly debate whether it's a majority of players or one or two disgruntled players etc, and if the story is being portrayed fairly but three experienced journalists aren't going to print with a story that has no legs behind it (and their initial report last January was certainly proven correct by the two crisis meetings with Langer last year). That said, the media campaigns that are going on are very unseemly and the decision on Langer's reappointment should be made based on how well he is doing the various facets of his job, not based on media backgrounding. The reality is that anyone outside of the players, support staff and Cricket Australia management is only getting a second hand account, often with an agenda behind it.
Marty
Roar Rookie
It’s paying a few journo’s wages.
Marty
Roar Rookie
For someone who presents themselves as some sort of pseudo intellectual Haigh is displaying a fair degree of ignorance re what it is, and is not, appropriate for the captain to be saying regarding a process which is yet to be run. Either that or he’s just trying to stir the pot and fill some column space.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Should have read “put the decision makers in an impossible position” of course.
hilsnz
Roar Rookie
I really can't see that Langer has done much wrong. He took over the team at a very low point, worked hard to modify behaviour, insisted on elite fitness, made ruthless culls (eg Renshaw and Khawaja) did a great job in integrating the sandpaper boys back into the side, stood by emerging players and retained the Ashes away. The big blemish was India last season. Without being inside the dressing room, it's hard to gauge how difficult the reported intensity, mood swings etc would be to handle and in fairness, I would quickly be over the homilies and zen positivity. That being said, he appears to have listened to the criticism and the team results speak for themselves. Although he's been involved in some inspired selections this season, I think he should remove himself from the selection panel. I see conflict in a coach addressing performance issues and future selection. By all means, let him have input into the selection process but not a vote. The team is obviously in a good place atm but going forward, the big challenge is improving performance overseas. I think he's done enough to be given a crack.
Paul
Roar Guru
Who ever this Andrew Wu bloke is, he should be sacked. He's constructed a story/fabrication that flies completely in the face of what Pat Cummins has said. "“He’s been doing a fantastic job, we absolutely love JL." Those are Cummins words. It makes no difference what happened 12 months ago, this is 2022 and people can and do change. Maybe Mr Wu should contemplate that as he looks for another profession that tolerates making up complete nonsense.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Sure, more referring to comments by others above who implied he wasn’t being supportive enough.
JustSomeGuy
Roar Rookie
I suspect when the problems arose Langer was telling some players things they needed to hear but didn't want to hear. I used to teach, and it is easy to get good reviews when you make everything 'fun' but don't challenge them. But they don't learn much and don't reach their potential. Langer might have needed to couch his messages differently from what he was doing, but I suspect the basic messages were sound.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Wasn't saying his was.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
""""""!
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Not sure that saying “JL has been fantastic” is really hedging his bets.