Rift in Australian Cricket: CA hold talks with Paine, Finch on Langer issue

Rift in Australian Cricket – Justin Langer Issue: Australian cricket captains Tim Paine and Aaron Finch have been called by the cricket board in an emergency meeting to find a solution to the Justin Langer issue. The former Australia opener and current head coach has been facing a lot of criticism in recent times following a series of downhill results, with players and the support staff arresting their frustration with his coaching style.

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Rift in Australian Cricket: Cricket Australia calls emergency meeting, captains Tim Paine, Aaron Finch called to discuss Justin Langer issue

Rift in Australian Cricket – Justin Langer Issue: As per reports, Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings and CEO Nick Hockley held a zoom call with Paine, Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch, and vice-captain Pat Cummins to discuss the future of Langer. The emergency meeting came in hours after Hockley had issued a statement in support of the Australian cricket head coach. As per the Herald and The Age, the players and support staff were encouraged to be forthright with their views.

As per the report, players and support staff are being worn down by Justin Langer’s intensity and erratic behaviour which has been further magnified by the draining impact of biosecurity bubbles, lengthy spells in quarantine and poor results, particularly the loss to India. “The whole issue is being considered. It has been brewing for some time,” a senior Australian cricket source said.

CA have released a statement in support of Justin Langer. pic.twitter.com/Tl6zttwf95

— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) August 18, 2021

Rift in Australian Cricket – Justin Langer Issue: Meanwhile, Tim Paine has thrown his full weight behind Justin Langer and confirmed he had spoken to Langer personally over the last 48 hours. Speaking on his own SEN radio show, Paine said, “We’ve had some really robust conversations amongst our leaders in the last few days and we’re really looking forward to the next six months with JL. We’re looking forward to the World Cup, we’re looking forward to the Ashes, it’s an exciting period for any cricketer. If anything, I think we’re heading into that tournament and series even more galvanised and even more together. It was important that myself, Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, and the leaders of Australian cricket got around him, discussed things that needed to be discussed, and then got around him and supported him and looked to move forward.

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The meeting comes in after Australian cricket captain Aaron Finch failed to endorse Langer as a coach during a series of interviews. When quizzed about the speculation regarding Langer, Finch bluntly said, “Playing cricket for Australia is hard enough as a player without worrying about all that stuff off the field. That’s out of our control. There’s nothing that can be done from our point of view. All we can do is try and get results. You see everywhere, if you get results, things look after themselves more often than not, don’t they?”

Cricket