Sydney: Australian cricket team head coach Justin Langer may have done irreparable damage to his prospect of getting his contract renewed after reports emerging from his meeting with Cricket Australia (CA) officials indicated that he “reacted angrily” when told that he will have to re-apply for the job along with other candidates.
Langer reportedly met Cricket Australia chief executive, Nick Hockley, and head of performance, Ben Oliver, in Melbourne on January 28 to discuss his future with the national team, according to foxsports.com.au on Monday.
The reports said that a “variety of sensitive discussion” took place, with the CA officials making it clear that Test skipper Pat Cummins will have a big role to play in the final decision. The 51-year-old former Australia opener “reacted angrily when the possibility of him re-applying for the job was raised”, the report said.
Langer, who guided Australia to its maiden ICC T20 World Cup title in the UAE and a 4-0 Ashes win at home, was firm on not re-applying and going up against candidates with “inferior resumes”, the report said, adding that he wanted a multi-year deal after the twin success in the space of just three months.
The report said that the former cricketer would most likely reject a 12 to 14 month arrangement, “which would take in three sub-continental tours, a home T20 World Cup, next summer’s Test opponents South Africa and the West Indies, plus the 2023 Ashes.”
Langer reportedly reacted angrily to the suggestion of a short-term “trial period” contract during the meeting, given that he had spent four years in the job. Langer was also quizzed on the strength of his relationship with Pat Cummins, the report added.
Despite Langer and the new Test captain being on good terms, Cummins has not endorsed the coach’s contract extension. Following Australia taking an unassailable 3-0 lead after the Ashes Test in Melbourne, Cummins was non-committal on whether Langer should “continue on” after his contract expires in June. Cummins had said that he would rather “savour” the Ashes victory than get into the discussion.
Langer reportedly had an uneasy relationship with some players in the squad, and things came to a boil following Australia’s away defeat to Bangladesh in a T20I series last year. The Cricket Australia management and the Australian cricket team leadership group had to sit down to resolve the crisis.
