Justin Langer Resigns As Australia’s Cricket Coach To End Messy Saga

Justin Langer’s reign as Australia men’s cricket coach is over after he resigned on Saturday ending a messy protracted saga lasting six months.

But the bloodletting, which has engulfed Australian cricket and seemingly paralzyed its governing body, is set to continue for some time after the bitter fall of Langer, who rejected a short-term offer to stay on as coach after a marathon Cricket Australia (CA) board meeting on Friday.

Langer, who helped rebuild Australia after taking the reins post the humiliating sandpaper scandal, wanted a longer-term deal on all three formats having just completed a fruitful period yielding a surprise T20 World Cup triumph and an Ashes trashing.

He didn’t get that as CA tried a compromise but the messy divorce was further underlined when Langer publicly revealed his resignation on social media via his management before the news officially broke.

It’s been an inevitable separation since disgruntled senior players led an attempted coup to oust the Australian cricket legend last August.

Famed for his work ethic and mental resolve, which fueled his legendary career spanning 105 Tests during Australia’s glory days, Langer brought unwavering intensity, discipline and a bucket load of passion to the role.

He had previously helped turnaround WA cricket, a former powerhouse in Australian domestic cricket before an eroding of culture saw it spiral leading to powerbrokers pleading for Langer to shake things up. The Western Australian icon did exactly that through strictness and preaching an uncompromising level of professionalism to his players.

For an NBA analogy, he is something akin to legendary coach and executive Pat Riley, who won five championships as coach but also infamously became reviled by some of his star players having run them into the ground.

Eventually, a core group of Australian players tired of Langer, who is known within inner circles to deliver withering rebukes to those not adhering to his message. It has been reported by the Australian press too that his mood swings had also created uneasiness around the team.

Even though he survived, Langer appeared a dead man walking with his four-year contract ending in mid-2022. In a last ditch bid to save his job, he took a step back and loosened his stranglehold on his players, who then seemingly thrived as underlined by a stunning period for Australian cricket.

Suddenly Langer’s standing improved – certainly publicly and strengthened by his influential ex-teammates holding forth behind the microphone – and he underwent a type of public relations campaign which he hoped would help secure him a long-term contract.

Just as we’ve seen in other sports, most notably the NBA, star players effectively hold the power and Langer’s fate had been almost surely sealed when Test captain Pat Cummins amongst others failed to publicly back the besieged coach. The players’ sentiment had also received a sizeable platform through the country’s influential east coast press as a divide emerged in Australian cricket.

CA, which has repeatedly tripped up on scandals since the Newlands humiliation, should have read the room and acted swiftly. It didn’t as the governing body excruciatingly dragged on a decision and with the team currently in a lull since the Ashes, the media vacuum was filled with this saga as the muckraking heightened leading up to Friday’s board meeting.

It was not how Langer envisioned his stint ending but he leaves at a career high and before a daunting Test schedule – where Australia have three tours of the subcontinent this year – and a tough T20 World Cup title defense on home soil. Things could well go south pretty quickly for Australia, who might struggle to win any of those assignments, so perhaps this is the right time to bow out.

Amid such a hectic role exacerbated during the pandemic, four years juggling three formats feels about the right length. And Langer will have plenty of suitors. He could run his beloved Western Australia if he wished, while the newly vacated England head coaching role might appeal. Perhaps less taxing T20 jobs in the IPL and BBL might appeal to a better life balance.

Australia will enter the unknown with assistant coach Andrew McDonald appointed interim coach for the team’s tour of Pakistan next month. England World Cup winning coach Trevor Bayliss, who is Australian, and former pace star and Adelaide Strikers coach Jason Gillespie have been bandied around as possible replacements.

It’s an interesting yet awkward time ahead for Australian cricket and the ramifications might have just started if the national team – led by those players who so wanted Langer gone – fall from their current lofty height.