Individuals Were Not Key To Justin Langer's Decision, States George Bailey

Cricket Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey denied the claims that a lack of backing from individual players and support staff led to Justin Langer’s resignation as Australia’s head coach.

After days of speculation over Langer’s contract with Cricket Australia, the former opening batter tendered his resignation from the head coach role on Saturday (February 5).

Langer’s four years of contract with Cricket Australia was supposed to end in June with Australia’s tour of Pakistan could have been his last task.

Cricket Australia had a lengthy meeting with Langer on Friday (February 4) but the two parties couldn’t pen a suitable deal. The Australian board stated that they offered Langer a short-term deal but that wasn’t sufficient for him.

After Langer tendered his resignation from the head coach’s position, many former cricketers, especially his old teammates, have slammed Cricket Australia for their approach and Australian captains for not backing the coach.

It went wide: George Bailey on Justin Langer’s contract discussion

Bailey said he was too consulted for his views on the topic and said that there was no role of individuals in pursuing the decision.

“I was consulted. I’m led to believe that it was a very, very broad consultation. It went wide. Again, I’ve been consulted back since the middle of last year,” Bailey told reporters on Tuesday.

“I don’t subscribe to the fact that there were individuals that were key to making the decision,” he added.

Don’t think Justin Langer was too intense: George Bailey

A few months before the T20 World Cup, Justin Langer was involved in a tussle with the Australian players where senior players like Pat Cummins had submitted their feedback regarding the former Australian opener’s coaching style.

Langer was under immense pressure to keep his position until the Ashes but players themselves have admitted that there was a massive change in Langer’s management as Australia lifted their maiden T20 World Cup title last year.

Bailey said he never found Langer too intense and advised players to reach out to any coach in future to avoid differences of opinion.

“In JL’s letter that he apologised for being too intense, I mean, I don’t think that’s something he had to apologise for. One if he felt that way, but two, I don’t think he was too intense,” Bailey said.

“It’s hard as a past player to keep your finger completely on the pulse of what’s going on within the team. A lot of their opinions can be based on hearsay and second and third-hand information.

“So, I would always encourage those players to reach out and get a good understanding of what’s happening,” he added.

Assistant coach Andrew McDonald was named as the interim coach, he will take the charge of the Australian national team for the five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, starting on February 11 in Sydney.

Also Read: At Some Stage, Aaron Finch Or Pat Cummins Will Have To Answer Some Questions About Justin Langer, Says Usman Khawaja