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Opinion
It seems the Australian cricket players are above the board.
In Justin Langer’s case, the key point was that some of the senior players didn’t want him to continue as he tried to enforce some discipline in the team’s culture.
He was always forthright in his comments of displeasure. Remember he was annoyed when the Indians won the Gabba Test in the twilight of the final day last year.
The late charge of India’s diminutive wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant, meant the Aussies were caught unawares and they were haplessly watching his brutal attack.
The Aussies were at their wit’s end and the Indians romped home and also won the series by 2-1. The head coach Langer gave his mouthful to the players in the change room, which was available to the public.
It was one of the occasions when Langer lost his temper. The players didn’t relish his broadside against the players.
In Justin Langer’s case, CA’s truce formula was to strike double in one stroke. They offered a short-term extension (his term is expiring in June 2022), including the opportunity to defend the T20 World Cup title to be held in Australia this year end.
CA knew full well that Langer may not accept this kind of humiliating offer and also wanted to placate the players’ dislike of Langer continuing for long.
(Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)
Rewind to 2013 when the then-Australian head coach Mickey Arthur faced a similar humiliating exit as he also tried to enforce some discipline in the team.
In fact, he asked every player to write down their thoughts on a sheet of paper for the failure of the team in the ongoing Test series in India at the time.
As some players didn’t oblige, he recommended dropping some players including Shane Watson and Usman Khawaja from a Test match in the series.
It was a dreadful series as the Aussies went down to a humiliating 4-0 defeat in the 2013 Test series in India under Michael Clarke.
It was the first time that the Australians were clean-swept in a Test series in India. Some players didn’t like Mickey Arthur’s style of functioning and ultimately Arthur was shown the door of the head coach job.
There was the shameless sandpaper controversy in the South Africa series in 2017-18 involving captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.
(Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)
Later on, Bancroft confessed more players were aware of it and that was not given credence by anyone in CA, including the players. And head coach Darren Lehmann was watching helplessly in the dugout.
The volatile climate in South Africa amplified the win-at-all-costs culture of the men’s Test team.
It is a culture that was found in a report written by Simon Longstaff of the Ethics Centre in October 2018 to have permeated from the CA administration itself.
Of course, the three players were punished with a ban. But it was the head coach Lehmann who had to face the wrath of the public, who suspected his foul play. He resigned.
Now the players are reinstated and happily playing and in fact some of them are calling for Justin Langer’s ousting.
So it seems the Australian players are calling the shots in CA instead of the other way round.
Even in India, it happened some years back when Virat Kohli and some team members didn’t want the head coach Anil Kumble to continue.
They had reservations about his strict style of functioning and ultimately Anil Kumble had to go.
But now ‘Dada’ Sourav Ganguly is at the helm of the BCCI. He knows how to cut Kohli down to size and already showed him his place and Kohli had to step down as captain of the Indian team in Tests.
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