Australian players unhappy with Justin Langer’s strict approach

Justin Langer must change his coaching style if he wants to continue in the role. According to reports, Australian players are not happy with Justin Langer’s strict approach. Many Australian players have expressed dissatisfaction over Langer’s management style. This came after suffering a 2-1 series defeat against team India earlier this year. Justin Langer was appointed as the head coach of the Australian cricket team on a four-year contract in 2018.

Darren Lehmann had stepped down from the role in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal. From then, Justin steered the young team as a leader and as a coach. Supposedly, the Australian cricketers are now unhappy and not satisfied with the operating styles of Justin Langer and team manager Gavin Dobey. Justin Langer’s response to the feedback across the rest of the year is going to decide whether he will be handed a new contract or not.

Australian cricketers want more freedom and control in the dressing room

An end-of-season review of the team included the opinions of 40 players and support staff. It states that the cricketers want more freedom and control in the dressing room. However, the review only confirms the reports which had come after Australia’s 2-1 loss against India in 2021. During the high-profile series, it was disclosed that players were facing difficulties coping with Justin Langer’s intensity and micro-management.

One more review meeting was held, which was headed by Tim Ford, the team’s leadership consultant. The meeting was held taking into consideration the players’ perspectives. Tim Ford interviewed all the players virtually and took their valuable inputs on what changes they wanted. The final report will now be presented to Australia’s leadership group: Tim Paine, Aaron Finch, and Pat Cummins. 

Cricket Australia (CA) has now stated that Tim Ford’s review meeting was not as hard on Langer as the player review. Thus, the 50-year-old head coach will be appraised soon. Langer’s four-year contract will conclude in 2022, and the renewal of it will entirely depend on the response from the former opening batsman. Meanwhile, Australia will tour the West Indies in July after the conclusion of the Bangladesh tour. The Aaron Finch-led team is scheduled to play five T20Is against the West Indies team led by Kieron Pollard. The forthcoming series is a build-up to the ICC T20 World Cup going to take place later this year. The two sides will also face each other in a three-ODI series on the tour.

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