"Praise In Public, Criticise In Private" - Justin Langer Slams Mitchell Johnson
Published - 13 Dec 2023, 11:52 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:23 AM
Former Australia head coach Justin Langer criticized Mitchell Johnson for publicly criticizing David Warner, stating that he violated an unwritten rule. Justin Langer emphasized public praise and private criticism, believing in using public forums for positive commentary.
Mitchell Johnson criticized David Warner in a newspaper column, questioning the decision to give a ‘struggling’ Test cricketer a grand send-off. The controversy between the two former teammates sparked mixed reactions from the public and former Australian players.
Use The Opportunity To Praise The Person – Justin Langer
In his column for The West Australian, Justin Langer expressed his disapproval of Australian players publicly criticizing each other, emphasizing the importance of keeping criticism private.
“In simple terms, I hate it when men from the rare club of playing cricket for Australia or any of their grievances publicly. I believe in a simple ethos of, ‘praise in public, criticize in private.’ In other words, if you want to say something publicly, be positive and use the opportunity to praise the person you are talking about,” Langer wrote.
Warner has been included in the playing XI for the first Test in Perth, commencing on December 14. The 37-year-old, who has expressed his desire to retire from the longer format after the upcoming Test series, is set to open the innings alongside Usman Khawaja.
Shane Warne Publicly Criticised Steve Waugh – Justin Langer
The 52-year-old highlighted the importance of mutual respect among former and current Australian players, using Shane Warne’s example. Langer mentioned an unwritten rule where players refrained from public criticism.
“There was always an unwritten rule that, although all of us may not be best of friends, the mutual respect of playing for Australia was enough to stop of us from criticising each other publicly. Let others criticise us, but we would tend to stick tight as a part of the Australian cricket culture. It never made much sense to me when our great mate Shane Warne publicly criticised Steve Waugh or John Buchanan. All three of these were (are) my friends, and Warnie’s view, while he had every right to share it, never sat easy with me,” he added.
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
