Former Australia head coach Justin Langer has expressed displeasure over reports of his alleged rift with other Australian cricketers, including captain Pat Cummins. He denied reports of a rift revealing that he is still in regular touch with all of them.
Langer hit headlines earlier this week for lashing out at unnamed "cowards" in the Australian team for complaining about his coaching style in the media instead of talking to him directly.
The comments were heavily criticized in Australia, but now Langer has cleared the air about his remark on the Backchat podcast by stressing there is everything good between him and the national players.
Justin Langer said in an interview with the Seven Network: “Some of this is complete and utter rubbish. I have so much respect for Patty Cummins; he’s a brilliant player and an outstanding human being, so any thought that there is a war (between) us could not be further from the truth. If you listen to the podcast, I was actually praising Pat, Finchy, and Tim Paine for giving the feedback.”
He added, “Ironically, I spoke to Patty on Monday, and we had a long talk on how the team was going, how he’s going, and how his family’s going. Two days before, I got birthday messages from all the boys. I’ve been in touch with all these boys ever since I left the team.”
The former coach will be part of the Seven Network's commentary team during Australia's home summer of cricket, and he can’t wait to see the players in the Test series against the West Indies.
Langer signed off by saying, “I’ve been in touch with these guys ever since I stopped being in the team and I can’t wait for the Test match to start next week, and the reason I can’t wait is I haven’t seen them. I haven’t seen the boys since I finished in February.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
