On Tuesday, Cricket Australia (CA) denied a media allegation that national men’s team coach Justin Langer was involved in a “heated meeting” in which his future was allegedly discussed.
When the potential of Langer reapplying for the post was discussed during a meeting with CA CEO Nick Hockley and high-performance head Ben Oliver last Friday, multiple media sites reported that Langer “reacted strongly.”
Langer has been in charge since the ball-tampering controversy in South Africa in 2018, but his contract ends in the middle of the year.
“While we do not comment on confidential talks, we felt it was vital to clarify the record on this occasion,” CA said in a statement that omitted any assurance that Langer would keep his job.
“We dispute utterly the notion that the meeting was angry or emotional, and that Justin was requested to reapply for his job,” it added, among other erroneous assertions.
“Justin has always been contracted as Head Coach until the middle of this year, and we have always stated that negotiations about his future would begin following the conclusion of the men’s Ashes series.”
In the Ashes series that ended in January, Australia defeated England 4-0, sparking concerns over Langer’s future.
According to media accounts from last year, his rigorous approach did not sit well with the entire team.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan pondered what Langer needed to do to earn another contract after such a resounding shellacking of England in the Ashes series.
“If it’s true that Australia’s coach has to reapply for his job after leading them to No. 1 Test side in the world and T20 World Cup champions in the last few months, the terrain for success has shifted dramatically… Isn’t it all about winning? “On Monday, Vaughan sent out a tweet.
