AUS v SA 2018: Justin Langer humbled by stadium honour at Perth

Langer now has the southern grandstand at new Perth Stadium, named after him.

Justin Langer is extremely pleased with the honour | Getty

With the southern grandstand at the new Perth Stadium forever to be named after him from now onwards, head coach Justin Langer feels humbled and extremely pleased before the all-important first ODI against South Africa on November 4. 

The former left-hand batting giant was honoured in front of his players and WACA dignitaries, before he thanked and paid a tribute to his mother Joy-Anne, who passed away last year after a battle with cancer. 

"I'm a little bit embarrassed by this, When you start out as a little kid you don't set out to have a grandstand named after you. It's an unbelievable feeling," told Langer to the reporters present, "Most importantly my family and my friends are so proud of this and at the end of the day when I started playing the game it was to make my mum and dad proud."

"I know my mum, who isn't here with us anymore, she'd be balling her eyes out. It might start raining a little while because my might be crying down when she sees this," he added. 

Langer also reflected back at the turbulent last 18 months for Australian Cricket, where they've had struggles with the players' pay dispute and the infamous ball-tampering incident as well as the poor on-field results. 

He said, "It's sad, isn't it? Everyone seems to be at each other, there's lots of criticism. But we've got such a proud history of Australian cricket," and stressed, "We've had a few hiccups along the way, in not just in the last six or 12 months, but over our history. But we should be so proud of Australian cricket."

In line with this Langer said that it is the "elite honesty", which is all about being able to both give and receive the brutal truth, the way to go towards bettering the future. 

"It’s the Australian way as I know it," said Langer explaining what 'elite honesty' means to him, "You look at a bloke or a lady in the face and you tell them the truth and you need to really honest with yourself, because if you’re not you’re kidding yourself." he emphasized, "The man in the mirror is almost a cliche, but if you want to be successful in life you have got to be able to look yourself in the mirror."

"You can lie to everyone else, but you can’t lie to yourself. So that’s elite honesty to yourself. And also the Aussie way as I know it is to look a bloke in the eye, look your sister or you mum in the eyes, and tell them the truth and be happy to get some truth back, so that’s elite honesty," and signed off. 

(Inputs from cricket.com.au)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 03 Nov, 2018

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