Situation tough but confident of becoming a better coach, says Langer after emergency meeting with players

08/30/2021

Justin Langer, who recently had an emergency meeting with senior players following discontent over his management style, has said that 'situation at the moment is tough', adding that he was confident of becoming a better coach from it. Test captain Tim Paine has publicly backed Langer recently.

Under pressure Australia coach Justin Langer on Monday insisted the Australian cricket team was "in a better place" after the emergency meeting with senior players following discontent over his management style.

The former Test opener came under intense scrutiny in the wake of consecutive white-ball series losses to the West Indies and Bangladesh in July and August respectively. Australia, who were without their several star players including Steve Smith, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell, lost 1-4 in both the away T20I series.

Moreover, friction over his intense leadership and mood swings resurfaced again, sparking an emergency meeting with Test skipper Tim Paine, his deputy Pat Cummins, limited-overs captain Aaron Finch and Cricket Australia executives.

The 50-year-old admitted it had been a "tough" time personally, but said he had learned from the experience, drawing on the darkest moments in his playing career as a parallel.

"I look back at 1993, 1998 and 2001 when I was dropped from the Australian team," he told the West Australian newspaper as he aimed to reset ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup and a home Ashes series against England.

"I was devastated when they happened and thought they were amongst the worst times in my life."

"Yet I look back on them now and realise that those experiences, as gutting as they were at the time, made me stronger and better as a player," he added.

"The situation at the moment is very tough but I am confident that I will become a better coach from it."

Both Paine and Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley have publicly backed Langer in recent times.

"We all got a lot off our chests," he said. "I think we are all in a better place now."

While Langer has been widely praised for restoring the culture of the Australian team after the infamous 2018 Sandpaper-gate scandal in South Africa, rumours of rift in the dressing room have often done the rounds.

He was forced to address negative feedback earlier this year when discontent surfaced about his "headmaster-like" leadership. Langer, who played 105 Test matches for Australia between 1993 and 2007, reiterated that criticism came with not winning.

"When you win, everyone is happy and gets on with things but when you are losing, that is when the finger-pointing starts and people look for excuses," he said.

"We have had a rough trot in recent times but we retained the Ashes only a little while ago and were ranked No.1 in Test and T20 cricket not that long ago.

"Get back to winning and you won't hear about anything else," Langer concluded.