SYDNEY: Australian men’s cricket coach Justin Langer announced his surprise resignation Saturday, just weeks after trouncing archrivals England in a lopsided Ashes series and months after winning the T20 World Cup.
The 51-year-old walked away from the top management job in Australian sports after a difficult relationship with players and acrimonious talks with governing body Cricket Australia. Board members held lengthy discussions about Langer’s future into Friday night but appeared to have failed to reach an agreement on a new deal with the former Test batsman.
The coach is said to have bristled at being asked to effectively reapply for his job and being offered a short-term contract, despite a stellar record that culminated in a 4-0 Ashes victory and Australia being ranked the world’s number one Test team.
Sports management company DSEG announced Langer’s departure in a statement saying, “our client Justin Langer has this morning tendered his resignation as coach of the Australian men’s cricket team”.
“The resignation follows a meeting with Cricket Australia last evening. The resignation is effective immediately.” Cricket Australia confirmed the news but did not immediately comment.
Langer took over as Australian coach in 2018, following the events of the national team’s tour to South Africa. Since then, Australia retained the Ashes under his leadership in 2019, reaching the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup in the same year. In 2021, Australia claimed its first ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, before winning a home Ashes series in convincing fashion.
Langer was due to take personal leave during Australia’s five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka from February 11, with assistant Andrew McDonald overseeing operations. In the wake of Langer’s resignation, McDonald has beep appointed as interim head coach. Australia embark on overseas tours to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India in 2022, ahead of their T20 World Cup defence.
