Former Australian captain Kim Hughes has ripped into Cricket Australia for its handling of Justin Langer’s contract negotiations saying “it’s disgraceful he’s had to put up with this bullshit”.
Hughes told Channel 10 that Langer should be rewarded for the team’s recent on-field success, including the Twenty 20 World Cup triumph and Ashes series win over England, with a new deal when his current contract expires in June.
He was also critical of CA’s decision to seek the views of Test captain Pat Cummins and limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch in arriving at its decision on whether to retain Langer’s services.
Langer’s position as national coach is under scrutiny with the CA board set to meet on Friday to hear recommendations from CEO Nick Hockley and head of performance Ben Oliver.
The two executives met Langer last week in a meeting in which details were controversially leaked to the media before CA issued a statement to deny the catch-up had been fiery or that Langer had been asked to reapply for his job.
“As far as getting the Australian captain to give his imprimatur, that’s not required. He’s to captain the side out on the ground,” Hughes said.
“As a coach you’re there to comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable. And that’s what Justin Langer does very well.
“It’s disgraceful that he’s had to put up with this bullshit.
“He’s absolutely been dishonoured. No other sport in the world would even dare to say you’ve just won the World Cup, you’ve just beaten our arch enemy four-zip like you wouldn’t believe, we’ve never looked any better from a terrible situation created by Cricket Australia and their lack of handling it. For God’s sake.”
Langer is taking a break with family in Perth over the next couple of weeks while assistant Andrew McDonald oversees the T20 side’s five-match series against Sri Lanka.
He is due to lead the team’s first tour of Pakistan since 1998 in March which includes three Tests as well as white-ball fixtures.
The seventh highest run-scorer in Australia’s Test history with 7696 at an average of 45.27, Langer was inducted into the Australian cricket Hall of Fame last Thursday along with former women’s captain Raelee Thompson.
Another Australian cricket legend, Ian Healy, added his voice to the chorus of former players bemused at Langer’s job being under question.
Healy said on SEN Radio many of the senior players who have failed to endorse Langer were part of the set-up prior to 2018 when the team’s culture was brought into question following the ball-tampering scandal at the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
“A lot of those players were well and truly in behind that cultural problem they had four years ago,” Healy said on Wednesday.
“The game is going to look stupid if they sack Justin Langer.
“I don’t think they will sack him but they might manage him out by saying we’ll give you two years and he wants more [on his contract offer]. There might be a stalemate on those fronts.
“Let’s see what the reasons are but there’s going to have to be some big explanations from Pat Cummins, from Aaron Finch, from Steve Smith and these senior players, David Warner, who have voiced their feelings.
“I don’t know which way but it seems like they’re not on board or they weren’t but from all reports they are, they got on board when they got winning again so cricket will look stupid, the powerbrokers will look stupid, I mean.”
Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Mark Taylor are among the former players who have called for Langer to be re-signed as coach.
His predecessor, Darren Lehmann, recently urged Langer to walk away before he was pushed, saying four years in the arduous role was enough.
Meanwhile, AAP reports that Langer would finish with the most successful end to a tenure as Australia coach since John Buchanan if his stint in charge ends this month.
Conjecture over Langer’s position has long been focused on player concerns about his intense nature, and not about on-field performances.
Langer can mount a fair argument about the direction he is taking the team after a maiden Twenty20 World Cup win and dominant 4-0 Ashes victory this summer.
Since Australia began employing full-time men’s coaches in 1986 only Buchanan has ended his role as coach with two successful major campaigns.
Buchanan ended on his own terms when deciding to step aside after the 2006-07 Ashes whitewash and ensuing World Cup win.
Predecessors Bob Simpson and Geoff Marsh also made the call to move on after successful reigns, but both lost their last series in charge in the 1996 World Cup and a 1999 tour to Sri Lanka respectively.
More recently Mickey Arthur was sacked after a 4-0 loss in India, Darren Lehmann resigned after the ball-tampering scandal and Tim Neilsen quit when asked to reapply for his job.
Neilsen had just wrapped up Test and ODI series wins Sri Lanka, after a summer in which a home Ashes loss prompted the Argus Review before Australia’s first unsuccessful World Cup in 15 years.
In comparison, Australia’s on-field success under Langer stands out with the team ranked No.1 in Test cricket after a rebuilding period.
Langer has also made clear at points this summer he has been happy to loosen his grip, letting assistants assume more responsibility.
Tex Russell
Guest
CA board are spineless cretins and should all resign. They are happy to bask in the sun of success but are inept in their management skills.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
Very possibly - but his playing experience still isn’t relevant to that.
Dentshop
Roar Rookie
Has Langer been that successful? Haven't won an away series for a long time. Lost at home to India. Can't win on the SCG. The middle order still a house of cards. An Ashes series against a Shield level England and a T20 World Cup? Whoopdy do. If that is success, we set a low bar.
Dentshop
Roar Rookie
Precisely. People have short memories of why Mickey Arthur lost his job as coach.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
But yet has to work with him . Coach and captain in cricket strongest symbiotic relationship in this sport . In other words we will give you a captain like it don’t like it tough . That just doesn’t feel right . I run a business . Actually I do . My go to manager must be and is my decision and it has to be someone I can work with . The board of CA doesn’t have to work with the captain , the coach does yet they are making the call . Not good .
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
"since 2011" Wrong!
PontingLast Test as Captain December 26-29, 2010; last One Day International as Captain March 24, 2011; resignation as Captain March 29, 2011.Censored Often
Roar Rookie
The coach doesn't have the power and never has to appoint a captain.
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
Ponting, Clarke, Watson, Smith, Paine and Cummins. Surely not all duds in your opinion?
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
The Australian test captain has never been underling to the coach.
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
What would they know anyway, us fellas down at the bowlo are much more knowledgeable than those overpaid plumbs that reached those lofty heights in the game....
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Homework ? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Lovely response . I in return participate here on an Aussie site because ...well there is an awful lot of decent people here . It’s so unusual anywhere in the World . And knowledgeable too . Geez I’ve been pulled up so often for not getting my facts straight . It’s a real credit to your culture . Good job . Actually I have through family a tentative connection on my sisters side with the mining industry of Australia. Her husbands brother founded the BHP Billiton group then shifted it off to Australia . I Also worked for a while on the ERPM mine near Joburg . Cheers .
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Agree with you you there Don. His laid back, self deprecating and humour-laden approach to commenting can be seen as being irrelevant when it comes to being taken seriously, but delve beneath the delivery and his thinking is quite deep, typically spot on and cuts through the BS.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
I went down similar paths in cricket here as I did when seeking to understand what was happening to my beloved rugby in your country, perhaps a decade ago - when Peter de Villiers was about, talking in tongues. :stoked: Your comments apply to that great game as well. You pick up some insight here and there over time as you know, Just Nuisance, and the history and condition of South Africa and Rhodesia has been a passing interest throughout, simply due to curiosity in history. New Zealand rugby mates who have played and coached there added information; your expats formed enclaves on the Gold Coast much as they did in WA - they offered their observations. A fella I know from Cape Town worked there as a media photographer, collecting material for the dailies and journals and I asked if he had photographed Mandela - "Oh yes, all the time" - was the response, which sparked his accounts on that subject. For some reason I knew much of his activities as an ANC senior operative (from reading in my teenage), and about gentle Willie :stoked: . National service, crime in public, concealed carry all came up when we wandered around the details of the Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney. Against all of that awful environment as a backdrop, in spite of the obstacles, fabulous excellence has burst through in both games from South Africans. In rugby alone - too many fine front rowers, Gary Teichmann, Botha and Matfield, Schalk Burger's fierce play and happy demeanor, Jean de Villiers captaincy under Heyneke Meyer - a fine leadership. The successes are driven, in my estimation, by the stubborn determination I have experienced from your lot who emerged here in mining management. :stoked:
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
And has remained in cricket ever since. Absolutely relevant. One of the most astute observers and commentators on state and international cricket...and the most engaging.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
Kim was a test captain before there was such a thing as a national coach. So his experience is irrelevant.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
And the coach definitely should NOT be a selector.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
You could write a thesis on dysfunctional behavior using that bunch as exhibit 1 . I can overlook sheer incompetence. I cannot overlook blatant dishonesty. In the 1990s under Dr Bacher SA had the best cricket admin in the World . It hit the skids very fast after him .
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
“As far as getting the Australian captain to give his imprimatur, that’s not required. He’s to captain the side out on the ground,” Hughes said. Ian Healy and Kim Hughes are to be commended for speaking publicly to support Justin Langer and to criticise the ACB. Ten and seven years at the top of Australian cricket, in company with the game's best. Good on them.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
"outranks"!!! Phhhfffttt! Put the manual down Ben, we're not discussing public service staff department rules, they appointed immature children who are sitting alongside the grown-ups with their elbows on the table and their caps on. The conga line of kindergarten captains since 2011 is as comedic as The Three Stooges.