Former Test opener and Australia's contemporary head coach, Justin Langer, opened up about a health scare that left him feeling "seasick and drunk" during the 2019 World Cup in the UK, nearly forcing him to quit his post and return home.
Langer, currently busy preparing the Australians for the start of the home Test series versus India, revealed he was suddenly facing tinnitus, vertigo and vestibular migraines during the campaign for the last year's quadrennial event.
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Initially thinking he has developed a tumour in his ear, as his father had 25 years back, Langer was thankfully relieved off those fears after brain scans in England.
"I developed tinnitus and that is just a constant now. I also kept getting vertigo, which is just horrible," he told the West Australian newspaper late Thursday (December 10).
"For about 10 months, it literally felt like I was seasick and drunk the whole time."
"In my job, I've got to put the mask on all the time obviously but it takes its toll."
The situation at the time was so bad that Langer, who got his job after taking over from Darren Lehmann in the aftermath of the ball-tampering saga, though of quitting prematurely.
"I got to a point where I was feeling so unwell and not having the answers, I wasn't sure that I would keep going in my job because it was just so stressful," said the 50-year-old, who played 105 Tests for Australia.
Langer has dealt with vertigo through physiotherapy and has also been having treatment for the migraines which were causing dizziness. But the tinnitus hasn't entirely faded.
"It was really weird. It literally just came on. We're in England for the World Cup and one day I wake up and I describe as like in Star Wars, the light sabres when they start hitting each other," he said.
Langer isn't certain how these symptoms came about, but he feels it might have got a bit to do with the fact he "got hit a lot" on his head during the playing days.
(Inputs from AFP)
