Grabbed Adam Gilchrist by the neck due to emotional frustration, recalls Justin Langer

After being a regular in the Australian Test side since late 1998, Justin Langer, who had an ordinary series in India in 2001, was left out of the first four Ashes Tests versus England in 2001 in order to accommodate the ever-so-elegant Damien Martyn, who had forced his way into the side through immaculate consistency and heavy run-scoring. Langer, who batted at No.3 for the first eight years of his career, was informed of his axing from the side two days prior to the start of the first Test at Edgbaston by his then-skipper Steve Waugh, who broke the news to the southpaw that he was being overlooked for the big encounter. 

"What happened next was that I was doing all the physical stuff that Aussie blokes do, but what I wasn't doing, I had to let go of the emotional bit as 'I'm 31 years old, it's the end of the dream, I'm out, I'm gone.' And so for the next six-seven-eight weeks, I was playing the practice games, and I was batting so bad because I was trying so hard.”

However, despite batting twice, the southpaw was able to score just 16 runs across two innings and his already-bad knocks were made to look terrible by Adam Gilchrist, who struck a nonchalant 102-ball 114 in the game. Langer revealed that he felt embarrassed looking at Gilchrist bat effortlessly, whilst he perished cheaply and added that he grabbed the wicket-keeper by his neck out of sheer frustration. 

"I remember at Sussex and I'm thinking, 'This is my chance, come on, Tugga (Waugh) is out, this is my chance.' At Sussex, I remember the first innings, I batted with Gilly, and I nearly started crying at the crease because Gilly is smacking them all around the park. I can't even hit the ball to the square.

"Adam Gilchrist, he is one of my great friends, and who was the captain, I grabbed him by the neck and chucked him up against the wall, 'Look what you blokes have done to me!' and I got really upset."

Langer missed out on the fourth Test but was picked for the fifth at The Oval, where he marked his return to the side with an unbeaten 102* whilst opening the batting. That eventually became a watershed moment in the southpaw’s career as he then went on to become a permanent opener, a move that turned his career around. Langer went on to score 16 tons as an opener and ended his career in 2007 as one of the greatest top-order batsmen to have played for Australia.