One of Allan Border’s regrets as captain was ceding power to Australia’s first mentor, Bob Simpson, a fine coach but a difficult man who having gained control was not willing to hand it back.
When Mark Taylor took over from Border in 1994 he made it clear from the outset who was in charge, much to Simpson’s chagrin.
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Likewise with Steve Waugh or Ricky Ponting or Clarke or Steve Smith, it was their team.
That all changed when Langer took over in difficult circumstances during 2018 after the Sandpapergate meltdown in South Africa.
One of Australian cricket’s finest players and statesmen, Langer was charged with helping rebuild trust in Australian cricket and did a fine job. Publicly he became the soothing father figure of the game.
But Ferguson inadvertently highlighted Langer’s biggest problem. He was trying to be a football coach of the national cricket team.
Australia has never had such a footified coach before. He is a board member of the West Coast Eagles and a confidant of their coach, Adam Simpson.
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.Credit:AP
His circle of significant football friends includes former Adelaide Crows coach Don Pyke, who was the losing coach in the 2017 AFL grand final.
Langer used Pyke’s failure in the biggest AFL game of the year to make the players relive their 2019 Headingley horror show after a miracle performance from Ben Stokes stole the third Test and ultimately a series win from Australia.
“I never forget speaking to Don Pyke after the Crows lost the grand final to Richmond. He said one of the mistakes they made was they didn’t address it straight away, they let it linger and well into the pre-season,” Langer later said on Adelaide radio.
“The next morning we all got up, we watched the innings together and it wasn’t for criticism, just so we could learn. Then we went down to Derbyshire together and we played really good cricket in a three-day game and then we won the fourth Test…”
That wasn’t the view of the players. Flattened by Stokes snatching the match with a brilliant century when all seemed lost for England, being flattened again by the coach didn’t seem the perfect antidote.
For two years Langer justified the dressing down by saying they won the next Test but when Australia regained the Ashes after the Boxing Day Test, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Asked if he would do it again Langer was strangely hesitant, flip-flopping around without being sure before offering a meek “probably.”
This was the new post mutiny Langer, who copped the brunt of team leaders last August when they and their teammates and support staff had been worn out by his intense micromanagement and a lack of support from Cricket Australia.
Footballers go home after training or games and get away from everything. Cricketers and their support staff travel together for weeks and months living in each other’s pockets.
It is an unnatural existence that requires more hugs than hammer blows, something Langer learnt too late in his four-year tenure.
How Alex Ferguson led Justin Langer astray
Source: Philippines Alive
