Retired players disgusted at Langer treatment as England job possibly looms

Former teammates of Justin Langer have lamented what they called a lack of player support for the man who, even before quitting on Saturday as coach of the Australian men’s cricket team, was being mentioned as a candidate for the vacant England job.

Langer announced his resignation less than a day after Cricket Australia offered him a short-term contract extension.

A day earlier, England interim cricket director Andrew Strauss left open the possibility of Langer taking over as England coach in the wake of Chris Silverwood’s departure on Friday.

As Langer weighed his future, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting expressed sadness at his treatment.

“It was absolutely clear that no one backed him,” Hayden told Australia’s ABC Radio.

“The whole thing just reeks of being orchestrated, basically from the moment all of this garbage started coming out (about Langer’s coaching style) in winter last year.

“You could see the writing was on the wall.”

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Langer took over as head coach in the wake of a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018, and most recently presided over a 4-0 thumping of England in the Ashes test series, hot on the heels of Australia winning the Twenty20 World Cup for the first time.

Ponting said that ever increasing player power appeared to have left Langer in an untenable position.

“It seems this time the players, and maybe a couple of the other personnel … might have influenced Cricket Australia into making the decision that they have,” the former captain said on ABC Radio.

“And that’s been enough to force (out) a man that’s put his life and heart and soul into Australian cricket.

Langer has “done what I believe has been a sensational job in turning around the culture and the way that the Australian cricket team has been looked at over the last three or four years, (but has been pushed) out of his dream job.”

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The England management has also had a major shake-up this week, with managing director Ashley Giles and head coach Silverwood among those leaving their posts after the Ashes debacle.

“I know him well and on the surface he’s done a very good job with that Australian cricket team, so I wouldn’t rule him out,” Strauss, Giles’s temporary replacement, told a news conference at Lord’s on Friday.

“I personally feel someone with an outside view who can check and challenge the thoughts within the dressing room is a healthy thing.”

Former captain Michael Vaughan urged England to pursue Langer.

“I don’t see anyone else better suited than Langer to crack heads together and bring some tough management to a group of England players who have become too cozy recently,” Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph recently. “This England Test team needs some tough love. (Captain) Joe Root needs a forceful coach next to him too.”