(UTV | AUSTRALIA) – Australia men’s coach Justin Langer says he’s not feeling “edgy” about his future before looming meetings.
Australia men’s coach Justin Langer says he’s not feeling “edgy” about his future before looming meetings with Cricket Australia hierarchy following the Ashes series triumph. Langer, nearing the end of his four-year contract, will soon meet with Cricket Australia bosses. “I’m never edgy (about the future),” he told on Wednesday.
“Before the World Cup and before the Ashes, we’ve never ever been better prepared so it’s not a coincidence … that we’ve had the success that we’ve had. Whatever happens from now on, we can all be incredibly proud of this little period. We had two missions: to win the World Cup and to win the Ashes.”
“To do that in such a short period is a monumental effort and we’re all really satisfied with that, we’re all really happy about that, we’re all really, really proud of that. I sit here at the moment feeling really content with the last two series.”
High performance boss Ben Oliver has flagged players would be among those consulted in a process to be conducted now the Ashes series is over, with a clearer picture of the coaching landscape expected to emerge before March’s Test tour of Pakistan. But Langer said he was always comfortable with his agreement with CA hierarchy to delay any discussions about his job until after the Ashes.
“People don’t seem to believe this but the absolute truth is before the World Cup and the Ashes we all committed to (at) the end of the Ashes to sit down and have some conversations,” he said.
“It has been four really big years and it’s an all-encompassing job and it’s a tough gig … that’s just the truth. We all said that we would sit down after the Ashes so, in the next little bit, I’m sure those conversations will start to be had. There’s plenty to be spoken about.”
Langer has seen a groundswell of support from his former Australia teammates in recent days, led by Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist who have both been vocal in endorsing him to continue as coach. Ponting told that CA had no choice but to renew Langer’s contract and warned against giving players too much say in a post-Ashes appraisal of the coaching structure.
“I can’t see how he’s not (offered another contract),” Ponting, said of Langer.
“I know there was a bit of noise created the last couple of weeks and Cricket Australia giving no assurances to him continuing on. I can’t see how Justin can’t go on. The way that I would equate it is if Justin is not to be offered another deal on the back of the best coaching year of his life, that’s like (Ashes player of the series) Travis Head not getting offered a contract next year.”
“(The input of) a couple of senior players would be enough. I don’t see why a fringe player (should get a say). I don’t understand why they’d even be asking a lot of the players to be honest. Pat fine, Finchy fine – the captains of the teams respectively, maybe a couple more of the senior guys – but that’s all. I don’t think it needs to go any further than that.”
Former coach Darren Lehmann, who stepped down from the job in wake of the Cape Town scandal in 2018 that ushered in Langer, has urged his successor to go out on a high, telling that he risks burning out if he continues in the job.
But Ponting, whose support for the Western Australian echoes similar calls from Steve Waugh and Shane Warne, insisted Langer’s record should dictate that he remains in the job.
“The other thing that they have to keep in the back of their minds – whether it’s players, whether it’s Cricket Australia – is that sometimes the grass is not always greener,” said Ponting.
“What they’ve been able to do has been pretty remarkable these last four or five months. Justin’s been asked to change a lot of things about the way that he coached. He’s been able to do that. We’ve all seen how much of a back seat he’s taken the last few months compared to beforehand.”
“He’s got the assistants more heavily involved which is one of the things that apparently needed to change around the group. He’s done everything that’s been asked of him and the results have followed. So if he wants to continue on, I can’t see how he doesn’t get another two- or three-year contract.”
Sydney Thunder coach and former England and NSW mentor Trevor Bayliss has been flagged as a leading contender should Langer not continue in the job. Bayliss, who has also previously coached Sri Lanka and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, said only the Australia role would lure him back to coaching in international cricket again.