Usman Khawaja calls on Pat Cummins to address Justin Langer exit

Usman Khawaja has fronted the media in the wake of Justin Langer’s ugly exit, urging senior teammates to clear the air.

Justin Langer (R) with close friend and former teammate Ricky Ponting. Picture: Paul Ellis/AFP

Test batsman Usman Khawaja has urged Australian captain Pat Cummins to publicly clear the air on the circumstances surrounding the resignation of national coach Justin Langer.

Amid ongoing fallout from Langer’s departure, player power has been widely suggested as the key reason with a host of cricket greats pointing the finger at Cummins and other senior members of the Australian team.

Khawaja, who returned to the Test scene this summer after an absence of more than two years, said he felt “disconnected” from the process that led to Langer’s departure.

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“I didn’t really know what was going on. I wasn’t part of the process. I just came back into the team a few months ago,” he said.

“I’ve been a little bit out of it.”

However, with the players copping the brunt of the blame for Langer’s exit, Khawaja called on Test skipper Cummins and one-day leader Aaron Finch to publicly address the matter.

“There’s obviously a lot of ex-players talking about the playing group,” Khawaja said.

Usman Khawaja (L) says he felt disconnected from the process that led to Justin Langer’s exit. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty

“I think at some stage, one of the captains, ‘Finchy’ or Patty, will probably have to stand up and answer some questions just to get rid of all the speculation that’s going around and to just put an end to it all.”

Khawaja said he was a “little bit” surprised about vitriol towards Cummins.

“But people, not only ‘JL’ but a lot of the older players, just like us, are very passionate about the game,” he said.

“They want to see the best out of the game. It all comes from a really good spot.

“I understand that everyone’s got their opinions but I also know that everyone just cares about the game.

Test captain Pat Cummins. Picture: Chris Kidd

Aaron Finch with Justin Langer. Picture: Michael Steele/Getty

“It’s not coming from a very vindictive (place), or there are no agendas ... at some stage there’ll be hard questions asked to CA and to the senior group, and I’m sure they’ll come out and be open and honest and give all the reasons they need to.”

Khawaja said he sympathised with Langer who is a “legend of a bloke” and he had spoken to the departed coach since his resignation.

“I feel for the man himself because I’ve got along with Justin for a long time,” Khawaja said.

“I love him as a bloke, he’s a legend, and on a personal level, whether I got dropped or whether he’s not the Australian coach, we both have that relationship.

“He brought humility back to the Australian team … I know what we played like before he was coach and I know what we played like when he was coach.”

Trust issues exposed by player silence

- Peter Lalor

An emotional Justin Langer spoke to Cricket Australia staff via Zoom on Monday to explain the reasons why he was leaving, but the players remain silent since his resignation.

Marnus Labuschagne was supposed to face the media on Monday to talk ahead of Wednesday’s recommencement of the Sheffield Shield season, but that was cancelled.

Only wicketkeeper Alex Carey offered a brief observation.

“Everyone respects the man highly — he’s obviously an Australian cricket legend,” Carey told Seven News.

“I’m a little bit surprised but it’s now about the stability of the team and trying to win games moving forward.”

Some players are understood to have messaged their former coach, but no others have spoken publicly.

Labuschagne, who is more interested in batting than politics, is not at fault. Skipper Pat Cummins has been as dignified as possible until now, but the air needs to be cleared, positions need to be owned, bandages need to be ripped off.

Steve Smith and Justin Langer during a training session.

Officials claim the Labuschagne press conference was called off because of a problem with scheduling, but there were also issues with sending out a player such as him, who had no role in events, to talk first.

Usman Khawaja will be the first crash test dummy sent out to talk since Langer’s resignation and one-day captain Aaron Finch later in the week.

Finch and Cummins met separately with Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley last week and were asked their opinions on Langer’s coaching style.

Nobody knows what they said, but the matter turned into a firestorm when News Corp broke the news of Langer’s resignation on Saturday morning.

The silence is unsettling and a number of observers say trust is being lost.

Langer admitted he was emotional on the conference call to staff on Monday and his camera shut off as he detailed the reasons for his departure.

New Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey with Justin Langer.

His explanation was essentially similar to what he said in his resignation letter, but he did single out some of the reporting of his situation over the past 12 months for criticism.

Adam Gilchrist is a close friend of Langer’s, but he says the issue has deep roots given what he has observed in recent years.

“I don’t care to listen to any of the corporate speak about transition and analysis of the coach’s position and requirements and evolution,” Gilchrist said on SEN.

“That is just covering up that certain players and support staff around that team have spoken and they no longer wanted Justin there.”

Langer, in his resignation letter published by News Corp, said that if senior players, some support staff and the board did not support him, he felt it necessary to walk away from the job.

“If media reports are correct, several senior players and a couple of support staff don’t support me moving forward, and it is now apparent the CA board, and you Nick, are also keen to see the team move in another direction,” he wrote.

“I respect that decision.”

Usman Khawaja (left) will be the first Australian to speak publicly since Justin Langer’s resignation.

Gilchrist was damning of the organisation’s behaviour in recent years.

“The cost on a human being and his family and the method with which everyone has gone about this and none the least CA and the board,” he said. “It stuns me, the personal capital and human capital they are happy to churn and burn is extraordinary.

“He’ll be the first to admit he has his frailties, his areas of weakness. But geez, he’ll sit with you and look you in the eye and sort it out. He’s being painted as a monster.

“What sort of effect would that have on you personally? What’s the flow-on effect on to your family? Particularly through a period of time where you are not really understanding what’s going on.

“I think it’s quite reckless and some of the decision making over a long period of time has been fuelled by greed and it really leaves me staggered.”

Former captain Michael Clarke believes Cummins, who was one of the players pushing for change, needs to clear the air.

“The Australian public aren’t stupid and this is my point with Pat Cummins,” Clarke said on Sydney radio. “His reputation is squeaky-clean. Right now it has taken a hit, until he stands there and voices his opinion. Look what Mitchell Johnson said about Pat Cummins. A teammate, a friend of his has smoked him.

“My advice to Patty is he has got to stand there. He needs to tell the fans where he sits on this because everyone thinks it is Patty who made the decision.

“He is trying to honour both parties and has done it very well. He is trying to look after Cricket Australia. I don’t like seeing Pat get smacked for this because I think he is in a lose-lose situation. He sits right in the middle.”

CA’S DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO END UNCIVIL WAR

— Ben Horne

Embattled Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley will reach out to furious ex-players in a bid to calm the uncivil war which has divided the game.

Former Test captain Mark Taylor’s declaration that the current playing group had ostracised cricket’s retired greats over the demise of coach Justin Langer came as Adam Gilchrist became the latest icon to condemn the way his mate had been cast aside by the dressing room and the board.

Mitchell Johnson’s vitriolic take-down of his former teammate and Australian captain Pat Cummins has been the ugliest of the dramatic fallout, but the deep anger expressed by the game’s most influential voices Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Taylor and Gilchrist has the potential to cause long-lasting damage to cricket’s already tenuous public reputation.

Current players have remained largely silent on social media since Langer’s departure, with Western Australian Ashton Turner the only international player to so far make comment on the coach.

Hockley is set to intervene and try to personally explain Cricket Australia’s decision to ex-stars – including the game’s leading TV commentators – who are highly emotional and demanding answers as to how Langer could be brutally moved on when the team has just won a World Cup and Ashes.

Justin Langer (R) with close friend and former teammate Ricky Ponting. Picture: Paul Ellis/AFP

“People obviously have very strong views and opinions. Absolutely, I certainly will be reaching out to some of the legends of the game who are also JL’s former teammates and very close mates,” Hockley told News Corp.

“I think it’s only natural that they all have strong opinions. I think it’s only natural they’ll support and back Justin as their mate.

“I certainly want to sit down and contact them and explain our plans for the future – the coaching set-up and the structure as it evolves so that everyone has a really clear understanding of that.

“There’s a fair bit of emotion at the moment but it’s certainly my intention to reach out and speak to them and it’s something I and others in the team will continue to do as a matter of course, because I think they’ve got really, really valuable opinions.”

Still can’t get over what a pathetic day for Australian Cricket yesterday was. 😞

— Adam Gilchrist (@gilly381) February 6, 2022

Former Test captain Michael Clarke questioned on Sydney radio on Monday who outside the playing group had actually been consulted about Langer’s future – adamant the “big three” of Australian cricket Ponting, Waugh and Taylor should have been conferred with before the decision was made.

CA were bracing for the fact the fallout of removing Langer would be fierce, and Hockley said the game will always be working hard to build trust.

“I think we’d know that JL holds so much affection, so much admiration for everything he’s achieved, not just over the last four years but also as a player,” said Hockley.

CA CEO Nick Hockley. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty

“We’re always trying to build trust. I’ve been really transparent and clear and consistent all the way through, ever since the middle of last year. I don’t know how I could be any clearer. We were taking a really strong project focus on those two campaigns (World Cup and Ashes) and then we would sit down and do a thorough evaluation of the needs going forward. And that’s precisely what we’ve done.

“It’s been a very, very difficult decision and there’s been clearly some very strong and differing opinions on this … and many people who are disappointed in the outcome … but we stand behind the thoroughness of the process and the fact we’re working in the best interests of Australian cricket.”

Ponting has labelled Cricket Australia’s handling of Tim Paine’s resignation as captain and now Langer’s as coach as “embarrassing.”

Gilchrist said on Monday he was also most appalled by what he sees as cricket’s “churn and burn” attitude towards the human beings who serve them.

“… I think through the last few days Justin realised that a lot of those key fundamentals and values that he has always and consistently based his life on, there was very little of that coming from either within the group or from Cricket Australia, and that’s where again where I think my focus goes to now,” Gilchrist said on SEN’s Whateley program.

“… they (players) may well sit back in a year’s time and say, ‘Look, we did it, we got the results’, but the cost on a human being and a family and the method with which everyone has gone about this, (not to mention) Cricket Australia and the board, it just stuns me.

“The personal capital and the human capital that they are prepared to churn and burn is extraordinary.

“I think it’s quite reckless and some of the decision-making over a long period of time in there has been fuelled by greed, it really leaves me staggered.”