NEWS
Follow UsJustin Langer came under intense scrutiny in the wake of recent consecutive white-ball series losses to the West Indies and Bangladesh, with friction over his intense leadership and mood swings again resurfacing. While Cricket Australia threw their support for the legendary opener, Langer on Monday insisted the Australian cricket team was "in a better place" after clear-the-air talks with senior players following discontent over his management style.
Langer admitted it had been a "tough" time personally, but said he had learned from the experience, drawing on the darkest moments in his playing career as a parallel.
"I look back at 1993, 1998 and 2001 when I was dropped from the Australian team," he told the West Australian newspaper as he aimed to reset ahead of the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup and a home Ashes series against England.
"I was devastated when they happened and thought they were amongst the worst times in my life. Yet I look back on them now and realise that those experiences, as gutting as they were at the time, made me stronger and better as a player," he added.
"The situation at the moment is very tough but I am confident that I will become a better coach from it."
While Langer has been widely praised for restoring the culture of the Australian team after the 2018 "Sandpaper-gate" scandal in South Africa, rumours of dressing-room friction have never been far away. However, when the news surfaced, skipper Tim Paine and Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley publicly backed Langer.
"We all got a lot off our chests," he said. "I think we are all in a better place now."
Langer said criticism came with not winning.
"When you win, everyone is happy and gets on with things but when you are losing, that is when the finger-pointing starts and people look for excuses," he said.
"We have had a rough trot in recent times but we retained the Ashes only a little while ago and were ranked No.1 in Test and T20 cricket not that long ago. Get back to winning and you won't hear about anything else."