Justin Langer: COVID-19 ‘has given everyone chance to recharge batteries’ as Aussies pursue world Test title
The COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed the Australians’ momentum towards the inaugural Test Championship title, but Justin Langer say they are hellbent on turning a negative into a positive.
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Cricket Australia has been given an early assurance that the inaugural Test Championship won’t be abandoned, with Justin Langer confident COVID-19 won’t kill the momentum of his No. 1 team.
No sooner had Australia ascended to the top of the charts as the No. 1-ranked team in Test and Twenty20 cricket, the world suddenly shut down.
It has robbed Australia of their best chance to challenge for a Twenty20 World Cup, which they would have started as favourites for this year, and it has left the first ever Test Championship under a cloud at a time when Langer’s side is on track to qualify for a historic final against India at Lord’s next July.
The International Cricket Council is now expected to make its announcement on when Australia’s World Cup will shift to early next week, but the early fear is that India will host next year’s tournament, meaning the trophy may not go on the line Down Under until 2022.
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That said, with the COVID-19 situation in India worsening, nothing is set in stone, and although the more unlikely scenario, it’s not impossible Australia could host its World Cup in October 2021.
However, in one piece of good news for Langer’s men, the ICC is giving preliminary indications it plans to see the Test Championship through, despite the fact most countries have lost matches during the pandemic.
The prospect of a blockbuster showdown against India in London next year gives Australia a goal to set themselves for to crown their standing as the world’s best in Test match cricket.
“I saw some new playing conditions that was sent to me (last week). And certainly the Test championship is still a big part of that,” Langer said.
“Hopefully, again, it’s a really fickle situation we’re in. But definitely as I sit here right now, it’s still on the agenda. And that’s exciting for us because it’s been something you aspire to like a World Cup or the Ashes or an Indian series.
“(The Test Championship) is something you aspire and work towards and from our point of view it’s something we hope is definitely on the itinerary.”
Under the captaincy of Aaron Finch and guidance of Langer, Australia finally look like a cohesive Twenty20 outfit after years of perennial inconsistency.
Australia were peaking towards October’s home World Cup — but Langer believes his side can still challenge in 12 months’ time, even if the tournament is switched to the dust bowls of India.
“Absolutely. We’ve got a really good structure. We know our game plan. I’ve been involved in T20 cricket for a long time now. I know exactly our game plan, I know what works, I know the recipe that works and we definitely have a team of very experienced T20 players now,” said Langer.
“Obviously it will depend on whether it’s in Australia or in the subcontinent in India. Straight away there’s a whole different ball game there isn’t there.
“We’ll have to adapt to that but we’ve definitely got a team. We’ve got so much depth now. Our guys are playing a lot of and we’ve got a really good core of people, really good core of players so we’ll be ready whenever or wherever we’ve got to play it.”
Langer says he doesn’t see the pandemic as a crushing blow for the rise of his team, even though it’s come just as two years of hard toil had started to pay off.
“I actually see it as a blessing to be honest. It took a lot of hard work for two years. We came through one crisis. It took a lot of hard work. This almost given everyone a chance to recharge their batteries,” he said.
“Coming through a crisis takes great energy. It takes great work. You’ve got to be willing to roll your sleeves up. You have to be thinking your way through it and you can’t do that when your batteries are half empty.
“It’s more a positive than a negative for us.”
LOOSEN NURSERY LAWS TO FIND OUR NEXT MARNUS: LANGER
Justin Langer has urged Cricket Australia to push England for a rule change that could lead to the emergence of more Marnus Labuschagnes.
The Australian coach is an eternal fan of the great finishing school that is English county cricket, having once graduated through the system himself before last year marvelling at the stunning rise of Labuschagne from relative obscurity to world’s top scorer.
England’s Cricket Board announced last week that all first-class county teams will be permitted to field two, rather than one, overseas players from next season — however, Langer has implored the ECB to go one step further to help take cricket back to a golden era of international batting.
As it stands, strict ECB rules make it almost impossible for overseas players without a recent international cap to qualify.
Unless you have played a certain number of matches for Australia in the past two years you won’t get a start, and Langer is hoping CA can lobby the ECB to relax the restrictions and allow up and coming prospects to hone their craft through the winter when the national team might be playing.
Langer came through in an era when the likes of Steve and Mark Waugh went to England as young players and developed their games, and is hopeful England could see a mutual benefit for both sides in improving the standard of county cricket.
“In the first instance, it’s absolutely brilliant for our young players if the counties pick up any Australian players,” Langer said.
“I know it was certainly a really important part of the development of a lot of our batting back in that time.
“To be able to play county cricket and play so much cricket, it gave you a great foundation for getting to understand so much about your game.
“The thing at the moment is there’s still quite strict restrictions on who can and can’t play there.
“It would be nice if they lifted that a bit so then England gets the best players coming over and the players can actually play the cricket that’s available.
“Even for young players going to play club cricket now, it’s really hard to do that.
“The opportunity to play club cricket in England in itself is such a golden opportunity for young Australians, just like it is for young Englishmen coming over and playing club cricket over here. They’re really good opportunities.
“I’d love to see those restrictions lifted a little bit so that those opportunities can keep happening for our young players. Because honestly it’s great grounding for them.”
Labuschagne embraced the non-stop nature of the English county system like Langer did back in the day, soaking up on-the-job lessons on batting like a sponge.
It’s an education Langer believes is vital for all young players, and he believes Labuschagne’s journey should act as an incentive for other up and coming batsmen around the country.
As much as the Australian Test team has improved over the past 12 months, the reality is there’s still a lack of batsmen in Sheffield Shield cricket putting up consistent numbers to push their way into the side.
“When you play county cricket everyone says it’s tiring because you’re playing nearly every day, but actually it becomes addictive,” Langer said.
“Not only with seeing Marnus doing it but also I’m sure there’s plenty of coaches out there who have experienced it.
“We’d be definitely encouraging it, there’s no doubt.
“There is nothing like improving your game, then playing games of cricket.
“You can have as much pre-season as you like, you can get as fit as you want and practice in the indoor nets as much as you want, but there is nothing for cricket development like playing cricket.
“The more we can encourage guys to play over there in their pre-season the better.”
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LET PLAYERS JOIN IPL: LANGER
Justin Langer believes Australia must tour England in September and then let its biggest stars go to the IPL as part of cricket’s COVID-19 recovery.
The Aussie coach says there are still complications to be worked through, but in his view it is imperative that his white ball teams are in the UK taking on the Old Enemy in less than two months’ time.
Langer says the same goes for releasing the likes of Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and David Warner to honour their multi million-dollar contracts playing in the lucrative Indian Premier League, even though the tournament is likely to fall at the start of the Australian domestic summer.
CA is desperate for India to tour for four Tests this summer, and in that spirit, Langer believes Australia has a duty to also do its bit to help get the cricketing globe spinning again, even if that means some major sacrifices in the way of quarantining, biosecurity restrictions and time away from family.
“My personal view is we have to go. For so many reasons,” Langer told News Corp Australia.
“I think we have to go to England. There’s lots of challenges of course but we have to find solutions to make sure that can happen if possible. That’s my view.
“I think for the health of world cricket.
“As much as we’d like India to come over here, I think we need to reciprocate that with England if we can.
“There’s lots of challenges to that but we’ve got to try and find solutions and if things out of control happen, and we can’t end up going, at least we can say we’ve done everything in our power to make it happen.”
Langer also believes allowing some of the game’s superstars to attend the IPL — where the eyes of hundreds of millions of cricket fans will be — is vital in ensuring India fell respected by Australia before touring here for a bumper Test summer.
“I think we have to. Talking frankly,” Langer said.
“I hear a different story about the IPL’s plans every few days. It varies. So until there’s some clarity and we can work out how it affects the domestic season, how it affects our players, how it works with quarantine … there’s a lot of considerations here.
“But if we want India to come out to Australia, which is going to be very important to get the summer up and running … it’s not a normal world we live in and we’ll look for win-win situations.
“I’ll always look for win-win situations and hopefully we do that when we get some clarity on what’s happening with the schedule.”
That clarity will come on Friday when the ICC is expected to formally announce that this year’s World Cup in Australia, due to be in October, will be postponed.
It will allow England and Australia to formalise dates for the white ball tour and for BCCI officials to lay out plans for the IPL.
Langer says players could go from being home for the first half of the year to suddenly being away from families for up to three or four months, should quarantine demands still be as strict as they are now.
Glenn Maxwell (elbow) and Matthew Wade (knee) will be fit for the England tour, while as it stands the game’s Victorian stars like Maxwell and Aaron Finch are still able to train despite the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne.
Aussie officials are still working around the clock to try and get the UK tour locked in, even though some cricket officials in England are already spruiking it as a done deal.
Originally published as Justin Langer: COVID-19 ‘has given everyone chance to recharge batteries’ as Aussies pursue world Test title