Justin Langer Didn’t Win Away Test Series, England Were Hopeless In Ashes: Brendon McCullum

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said the Australian players were behind the success of the T20 World Cup and Ashes.

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.

England were hopeless: Brendon McCullum

Under Langer, Australia won the T20 World Cup in UAE and swept England 4-0 in the Ashes at home.

McCullum said that any coach would have won against a fragile England side and credited the players for the success in T20 World Cup.

“England were hopeless, so I think anyone that was at the helm in the Ashes, they would have won that,” McCullum told SENZ Breakfast on Tuesday.

“The T20 World Cup (in the UAE) was a really good performance, but aside from that, the performance was just a bit middling for an Australian cricket side,” he added.

Justin Langer didn’t win a Test series away from home: Brendon McCullum

Langer was appointed as the head coach of Australia after the infamous ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town. Under him, Australia retained the Ashes in England (in 2019), won the ODI series in India (3-2 in 2019), T20 World Cup 2021 (in UAE) and The Ashes in Down Under (last series in charge).

Langer was under immense pressure to keep his position until the Ashes after the Australian players were unhappy with his managerial style and they give him feedback for the same. During the T20 World Cup, many players including skipper Aaron Finch said Langer gave them the freedom to take things in their own way.

McCullum pointed out that Langer hasn’t won any away Test series and said his handling of the team in the initial phase was the reason why the board wanted some new face.

“The danger was that he lost the changing room, he lost the group. The two most recent performances of the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, from what I understand, a lot of that was actually player-driven.

“After the feedback, he had from Cricket Australia and the players previously was that he was too intense and needed to take a step back. And so he took that step back, which was great, but then they got the success,” he added.

“So was it the players who were driving it (the success) forward, or was it his ability to step back, and was that going to last forever.

“He didn’t win a Test series away from home, which for an Australian side is pretty average really, and he wasn’t overwhelmingly successful. Yes, he did a good job while he was there, but I can kind of see why they wanted to head in a different direction as well,” 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: Individuals Were Not Key To Justin Langer’s Decision, States George Bailey