'JL hurt by the back stabbing': How will fans treat Cummins now after uncivil war between old and new guards?

Pat Cummins’ statement on why he wanted Justin Langer removed as Australia’s coach has begun an uneasy truce with the old guard, accepting the new skipper has gotten his way. But where the messy breakup leaves Cummins’ relationship with fans is less certain.

On Thursday, Michael Vaughan, Mike Hussey, Michael Atherton, Adam Gilchrist and Greg Chappell were among those who praised Pat Cummins for his statements a day earlier – variously using words such as “masterclass”, “impressive” and “proud” to describe the skipper’s statement, which was backed up by his media conference.

But take a look at any sports page’s social media post or comments section, or listen to enough talkback radio, and it’s not even close – there is an overwhelming majority – conservatively an 80-20 split – of support for Langer and disappointment through to disgust in how the former coach has been treated.

Until Cummins spoke on Wednesday much of the ire was aimed at Cricket Australia, almost as if there was disbelief that the players were actively backgrounding against the man who helmed a T20 World Cup win and Ashes triumph.

What plenty believed to be a media invention, or at least a media beat up, was proven to be the truth when Cummins left no doubt that he had wanted a new coach, while still finding time to praise Langer for what he had done in evolving the squad and the game post the Cape Town scandal.

It adds up to an intriguing 10 days for Cummins and the state of his relationship with cricket fans.

On Friday he will step onto the SCG for the first of five T20 international against Sri Lanka. With games in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, calm heads should prevail, but perhaps it’s a very good thing that Cummins doesn’t have to play in Perth right now.

Cummins copped a lot of flack from former players in the lead up to his media conference, where he made it clear he was sticking up for his mates. The obvious implication here is that the team wanted to move on from Langer.

(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Hussey’s comments to RSN radio on Thursday spoke volumes.

An interview that was progressing on an expected path took a spiky detour when the host asked Hussey about the outrage of Langer’s mates against the current players.

While there is a divide growing between fans and their captain, it’s nothing like the gulf that currently exists between the team of now and the cohort of the early 2000s, including Hussey, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne.

Hussey was asked if he was surprised by the “anger from the former players, the great Australian players towards the current players”.

“Maybe a little bit, I guess,” said Hussey. “I put myself in that boat as well. We’re great friends of Justin and we know what sort of guy he is, he’s so passionate and looking from the outside in you think he’s done a fantastic job.

“We also know the character he is and he’s a really good person. I’m sure if you asked any of those current players they’d all say he’s a great person with great morals and values and he’s taught them a lot.

“What will hurt JL the most is a bit of disloyalty that’s gone on behind the scenes, and a little bit of back stabbing and leaks into the media, because he’s a loyal person and stands up for his mates.

“I’m not surprised but it has been pretty big outrage from a lot of the guys.”

Despite this Hussey was impressed by how Cummins confronted the situation.

“It’s the toughest stuff he’s had to deal with in his captaincy reign, the first real challenge,” Hussey said. “I was actually quite proud of him. Him stepping up to the plate.

“That’s the one thing I’ve been disappointed about – there’s been a lack of transparency throughout this whole thing.

“I wanted to know what was really going on because as an outsider looking in you think ‘how on earth are they making this decision about Justin Langer’ because the team’s winning, he’s done everything they’ve asked by taking a step back.

“There’s obviously things going on in that inner sanctum that they aren’t happy with so it was good for him to stand up and give more clarity on what’s going on, but also be respectful of JL as well.

“Pat Cummins standing up and facing those tough questions and being open and honest about what he feels … that’s a really good start.

“I don’t like the players having too much power, but the relationship between coach and captain is really important and Pat obviously doesn’t feel like Justin is the right person to take the team forward.”

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Cummins was praised for his forthright approach by others.

“He’s an impressive young man. I have no doubt we’ve got a wonderful captain and leader in Pat,” said former skipper Greg Chappell on SEN on Thursday.

“Nobody would have been happy about what’s gone on in the last few weeks. I thought he covered things extremely well… hopefully everyone can move on.”

Michael Vaughan, who was astonished to hear the Langer was deemed surplus to requirements by Australia and has come out strongly backing him as a potential England coach, was also impressed by Cummins’ response, calling it “a masterclass in delivering empathy.”

“That’s our skipper,” replied David Warner.