Langer did what he always did thereafter – he dug in, attacked his challenge as if his life depended on it and scored his first century, 116, to establish himself after a few years. He then took one last glare at my pads before looking me in the eyes and saying NOT OUT”. Staring back at me, he tilted his head to the right, and then to the left. Slowly I looked up and stared into the eyes of the Jamaican. “Two golden ducks in a row would have been pretty hard to fight back from. Langer tells the tale in his book, The Power of Passion, that “in an instant, my career passed in front of my eyes”. What is not so well remembered is another major moment in the career of one of his teammates – Langer had been recalled to the Australian team for the tour and after making a golden duck in the first Test, his future was on the line.Ĭoming in at first drop after Michael Slater had been dismissed by Shoaib Akhtar, he was hit on the pads by the Pakistani paceman and West Indies umpire Steve Bucknor, who famously took a long time to make any decision. When the Australian team last toured Pakistan in 1998, it is remembered for the 334 not out scored by Mark Taylor in Peshawar. “I think he’s really embraced the conversations that were had over the winter and he’s really evolved and leaned into that,” he said. The last time CA said anything on the matter was on New Year’s Eve when executive general manager of national teams and high performance Ben Oliver said Langer had “done a great job” a few days after the Ashes had been secured following the third Test in Melbourne. It would be even harder for CA to punt Langer if they had achieved a clean sweep.īut that’s the decision they will have to make – Langer is not going to fall on his sword and if the players had wanted him to be given a new deal, what’s been stopping them from declaring that viewpoint publicly? The decision to declare late on day four in the fourth Test in Sydney, co-signed by Langer and Cummins, cost them what should have been just the fourth 5-0 whitewash in Ashes history. It has translated into a big tournament win in the UAE and a dominant Ashes result but it could be argued that a 4-0 victory should be par for the course over the under-prepared and underwhelming England side which stunk it up in the Ashes. He responded by delegating more to his assistants and being a more mellow presence around the team. The players have been happier with Langer in the past few months after they approached CA executives about his intensity and micro management. “Before I left (in September for the T20 World Cup), the absolute commitment from Cricket Australia and myself was that at the end of this campaign … my contract runs out in June and we’ll discuss where everyone is at and come up with the best plan going forward.” “Whatever happens, I’m really, really proud and so are my family and friends and so many people I know and I think a lot of Australians are to be honest about where the Australian cricket team is now. “I can only be judged on where Australian cricket was when I took over, because that’s the obvious time, to where it is today,” he told Perth radio station 6PR.
A cricket sang and set the sun grade series#
With the Chappell-Hadlee series cancelled, there is only a handful of white-ball games at home against Sri Lanka in February and the tour of Pakistan in March – three Tests, three ODIs and a T20 game – remaining on the list for Langer’s tenure.Īfter leading the Australian men’s team to the Twenty20 World Cup in November and vanquishing England 4-0 in the Ashes series, the board members should need no more convincing about Langer’s credentials, a point the coach made during a couple of radio interviews on Wednesday. If the board and CEO Nick Hockley believe Langer is the man for the job, what more evidence do they need? He’s a few months away from the end of his four-year term and surely nothing in the immediate future will change their opinion of his suitability for another contract offer. Cricket Australia will have to do something they seem reluctant to do – make a decision.
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