A few months after resigning from Australia’s men’s head coach position, Justin Langer has opened up about the developments that took place leading to his exit. Taking aim at interim Cricket Australia (CA) chairman Richard Freudenstein, Langer has hit out at the “bull**** politics” within CA as the reason for his departure.
Notably, Langer quit as coach of Australia in February earlier this year after being offered only a six-month contract extension despite guiding the Aussies to T20 World Cup title victory and Ashes glory.
After his exodus, several legendary Australian cricketers such as Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden and the late Shane Warne had criticised CA for the way the national cricket board treated Langer.
Now the Western Australian has recalled the conversation he had with Freudenstein the day after he quit as a coach, listing out what exactly happened and how angry and disappointed he was at that point in time.
“The first thing he said to me was, ‘It must make you feel so good that all your mates are supporting you in the media.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it is, acting chairman, but with all due respect, those mates are also the all-time greats of Australian cricket. They are the fabric of Australian cricket. They are Australian cricket. They also work all around the world in cricket. So yeah, I’m glad my mates are looking after me. Imagine if you had have’,” Langer told at an event in Perth as quoted by Cricket.com.au.
“Ironically, the last six months of my coaching career were the most enjoyable period of 12 years of coaching. Not only did we win everything, but I had energy, and I had focus, and I was happy – besides the bull**** politics,” he added.
After resigning, Langer’s name was linked to the England coaching position. The Perth-born cricketer, however, made it clear that he never considered the role.
“I’ve never spoken to English cricket. The thought of coaching England (shakes his head fervently)…mate!,” Langer added further.
