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Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist says Justin Langer would be a ‘perfect fit’ to coach England, after his close friend’s acrimonious departure from the Australian coaching job.
Speaking on the Barmy Army’s podcast The Shackles are Off, Gilchrist joins a growing list of former greats, including England captains Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain, to endorse the Australian for the role, having been controversially moved on despite T20 World Cup and Ashes triumphs in his final months in charge of the Australian set-up.
“I don’t say this in a provocative sense to anyone, but I do look at the set-up at the moment with England, and gee he’d be a good fit!” Gilchrist said.
“If the dust had settled, and he’d got himself, not in an emotional, ‘up-yours Australia’, [but] if he went ‘That’s a challenge, look at that’, it’d be awesome to see.”
England sacked coach Chris Silverwood in the wake of their disastrous 4-0 Ashes loss over the summer, with director of cricket Ashley Giles also resigning.
Gilchrist believes Langer as coach would be particularly beneficial for star all-rounder Ben Stokes, who made an underwhelming return to international cricket in the Ashes after a long lay-off due to finger and mental health concerns; while under-fire captain Joe Root would also appreciate another firm hand at the tiller.
Ben Stokes of England looks dejected while leaving the field of play after being dismissed by Cameron Green of Australia during day one of the Third Test match in the Ashes series between Australia and England at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
“Justin Langer working with Ben Stokes! The work ethic from Stokes is on par with Justin Langer’s. That would be intriguing to see what could grow and develop and sprout from that,” Gilchrist said.
“I think Joe [Root] as captain would benefit from a figure like Justin alongside him.
“It’s all pretty raw still, and there’s still a few months I suppose until England need to work out what they want to do.
“Who knows, JL might find that he wants to have a crack at it, but we’ve just got to wait and see and let time heal a little bit.”
However, Gilchrist also believes the ‘hurt’ Langer feels after being ousted as Australian coach may be too fresh for him to consider jumping back into the hot seat.
“I get the feeling that doing it straight away, doing this opportunity right now… it just might be a bit soon,” he admitted.
“He’s hurt, I know that, he’s been hurt, and you don’t need to be Einstein to see that and work that out.
“He needs a bit of time to heal and dust himself off, and work out whether he sees himself as a career coach, or was coaching Australia the pinnacle; and does he now want to go off into the corporate world, or do public speaking, or do some commentary, or a blend of a number of other things.
“I don’t think he’s going to be short of opportunities.”
(Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images for the Australian Cricketers’ Association
After weeks worth of furious responses to Langer’s axing from a number of the former coach’s one-time teammates, Gilchrist also urged everyone to move on from the debacle that was the final days of Langer’s tenure.
He also offered one of the strongest defences yet of the playing group seen from any of Langer’s long line of colleagues and admirers, saying speculation without knowing what occurred behind closed doors at Cricket Australia is a pointless endeavour.
“Internally, clearly there was something from the players’ point of view, and the broader group inside the inner sanctum of the Australian cricket set-up, that felt that there was a job he needed to do, and he was the perfect man for it, but now they can’t see going forward that he fits where this team’s at now,” Gilchrist said.
“There’s been a lot of commentary from a lot of mates of JL – and I’m one of them – that has sort of gone, ‘Really, how can that be, the results are pretty compelling!’
“At the end of the day, it’s only those people within that can form an informed opinion and then make some decisions from it.
“Whether you agree with it or not, there’s no need now for the rest of us to speculate about what’s right or wrong. The proof will be down the track as we see where it goes to.”
Langer has already been given the green light to put his hand up for the job by another former England captain, and current interim director of cricket, Andrew Strauss, but refused to concede the job was his should he want it.
“I know him well and on the surface he’s done a very good job with that Australian cricket team, so I wouldn’t rule him out,” Strauss said in early February.
“I’m sure there are plenty of others as well.”
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