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David Warner says Cricket Australia ‘kicked Justin Langer in the face’ before he left the national team, insisting the former manager ‘lost quite a few’ star players through his behavior
David Warner claims that Cricket Australia’s decision to only offer Justin Langer a six-month contract was a “kick in the face”, while admitting that the manager lost several key players in the team.
The build-up to and fallout from Langer’s departure as coach last year is a key focus of the second season of the documentary The Test, which premieres Friday on Prime Video.
Langer and Warner celebrate victory during day three of the Fifth Test in the Ashes series this past January. Now the batsman says Cricket Australia gave the manager a heavy hand
Langer’s departure late last summer came after concerns about the manager’s intensity were taken up by Cricket Australia (CA) at the end of his initial four-year contract.
He was offered a new six-month contract with no possibility of extension, which he immediately rejected and resigned.
Since then, Langer has made his frustration over the situation clear, speaking in various interviews and columns ahead of the start of the summer trial.
Warner’s comments come after Tim Paine also called the short contract “embarrassing,” “unprofessional” and “a disgrace” in his autobiography, claiming CA took the easy way out knowing Langer wouldn’t take it.
‘He wanted to continue training. It was like a kick in the face to offer him a six-month contract,” Warner said in the documentary.
Regardless, Warner also exposed the situation within the team.
“He lost some players, and probably the wrong players,” Warner said.
The documentary shows players speaking candidly about the Langer issue, and captain Pat Cummins told the AAP this week that he’s hopeful it can provide context and ease some of the lingering public anger over the matter.
In the first episode of the series, Cummins says that the players were walking on eggshells around the coach, while Usman Khawaja reveals that others were afraid of Langer.
Langer (pictured with Test skipper Pat Cummins during a 2021 Ashes Test) took several players offside while coaching, Warner claims
Nathan Lyon admits he struggled with Langer’s nature, with its ups and downs, with the former Test opener known for handling every ball.
The players, however, also make clear Langer’s significant influence in rebuilding the ball-tampering scandal and reviving the national team’s public image.
But Cummins insists the decision to leave Langer shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
“The Ashes, it all came to a head because their contract came up,” Cummins told viewers.
Happier days as Warner, Cummins, Lyon, Langer and the rest of the Australian Test squad celebrate defeating England at The Ashes on home soil in 2021/22
‘There was nothing unexpected. We had talked about a lot of these things over the past 18 months to two years.
“He was brilliant when we needed him in those early years.”
Cummins and other players reasoned that the team wanted to create a more level player-driven environment after the 2020-21 home series loss to India.
“The team had changed a lot over a four-year period,” Josh Hazlewood said.
“We probably needed a different support staff and a different coach, unlike four years ago when JL started.”