MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA): Australia batter Usman Khawaja on Tuesday said Aaron Finch (white-ball captain) and Pat Cummins (Test skipper) need to answer some questions in order to end the speculation regarding Justin Langer’s resignation as coach of the senior men’s team.
Cricket Australia on Saturday accepted men’s team head coach Justin Langer’s resignation. “Justin was offered a short-term extension to his current contract, which sadly he has opted not to accept,” stated an official Cricket Australia release. After that, many former players including Mitchell Johnson criticized Pat Cummins for not standing up for Langer.
“I think at some stage one of the captains, probably Finchy or Patty will probably have to stand up and answer some questions just to get rid of all the speculation that’s going around and to just put an end to it all,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Khawaja as saying. “One thing that I do love JL for, what I feel he bought back into Australia was humility. I felt like he brought humility back in the Australian cricket team. You talk about legacy, for me, that’s one thing that he’s left behind. Because I know what we were playing like before he was coach, and I know what we were playing like after he became coach. So I haven’t said that to him yet. So I’m saying it to you guys,” he added.
The contract extension offered to Justin was the result of a thorough review process that evaluated many factors including future requirements of the team and the upcoming extensive schedule of fixtures. The extension was approved by the CA Board and was put to Justin last night. It included the opportunity to defend the T20 World Cup title in Australia at the end of this year.
Langer was appointed as the men’s team coach in 2018 after the Sandpaper Gate which saw David Warner, Steve Smith serving out one-year bans. Under Langer, Australia managed to win the T20 World Cup 2021 and then the Ashes.