Australian coach Justin Langer says ‘if we stick to our plans we’re a very good cricket team’

Justin Langer is starting to show the first signs of the heavy strain he’s found himself under, blowing up at press conference after being quizzed about team selections.

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Less than a year into his role as Australian coach, Justin Langer is starting to show the first signs of the heavy strain he’s found himself under, blowing up at press conference after being quizzed about selections.

Langer was always unflappable in his playing days for Australia but is growing increasingly frustrated by the relentless scrutiny that goes with his new job as the team lurches from one defeat to the next.

He’s been doing his best to talk up his players and point out the few positive signs but the blunt reality is that the results remain as dire as ever and the pressure is starting to tell.

Normally a calm, wisecracker in front of the press, Langer apologised to a journalist after losing his cool on Thursday when asked about Glenn Maxwell’s baffling omission from the Test side.

Australian coach Justin Langer at a press conference in Sydney on Thursday. Picture: AAP

The hard-hitting Victorian has been picked for the Australian One Day squad that will play India in a three match series, starting at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but his exclusion from from the Test side remains largely unanswered and rather than let this one go through to the keeper Langer just poked and prodded.

“I don't like getting grumpy but there’s so many stories that go around about so

much stuff,” Langer growled.

“I didn't mean to get grumpy. We can talk about it after. But the truth is a

beautiful thing. Anyway, sorry, what are we talking about?”

Australian coach Justin Langer was testy on Thursday when quizzed about the omission of Glenn Maxwell from the Test squad. Picture : Gregg Porteous

The only thing everyone is talking about more than the Australian team’s losses in the nine months since the ball tampering scandal is the inconsistent team selection that has left every scratching their heads.

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No matter who or how hard they try, the selectors have not been able to fill the void left by the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner so have made radical changes to the Test and one day squads in the hope that things will come good in time for this year’s World Cup and Ashes series in England.

“We literally think about this stuff every single day,” Langer said.

“That’s our job. We’ve been planning this for a long time.

“Our results over the last two or three years have been not what we’re used to in Australian cricket.

“We know the perfect team we’d like to have for England but the schedule makes it really hard to have them together all the time but over the next few months we will start getting together a group of players together and building.”

The Australian team hasn’t been able to fill the huge hole left by David Warner (left) and Steve Smith. Picture: AFP

Things aren’t going well and Langer knows that so he’s pleaded for patience. He says the series loss to India was made to look worse than it was because the tourists “sucked the life out of us” with their disciplined batting, and the only way forward was through hard work.

“We've just got to get better but we’re crystal clear of the direction we're taking,” Langer said.

“We just have to keep rolling our sleeves up and keep getting better despite all the

distractions and there's lots of them.

“We’ve got really good plans. We didn’t execute them as well as we would have liked to this series but if we stick to our plans we’re a very good cricket team.

“I remember as a player, it’s so disappointing and you can’t see past the end of your nose but looking back they’re the best periods of my life as a player because

you had to get better,” he said.

“You literally had to get better otherwise you don’t get another chance to play Test cricket. It’s the same with where we are in Australian cricket. We’ve been beaten by India, led

brilliantly by Virat and they played really well and that’s OK, we’ve been beaten by a better side but this is an unbelievable opportunity for us in Test cricket and one day cricket to get better.”

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