Justin Langer admits David Warner copped an Ashes broadside but ‘even the greats have lean runs’
Ashes failure David Warner will probably be ‘very relieved he’s getting on the Qantas flight’, but coach Justin Langer says he’s learned over a long period ‘you never write off champions’.
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They held onto the Ashes, did better in England than any side before them for some time, but Justin Langer says it feels hollow after a loss in the last Test drew the series and admits there’s big holes in the batting order.
Getting personal, he notes that Stuart Broad took up residence in David Warner’s head.
Reflecting on the two teams efforts to make the finals of the World Cup and to perform better in England than any side in the past 18 years, the coach is warmer.
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The outfit he took over after South Africa had a bumpy path to the England summer but returns from the five-month trip stronger than when it left.
Warner had a nightmare with eight single figure scores and total runs (95) fewer than Steve Smith’s total boundaries (97).
Broad dismissed him on seven occasions, that’s historically bad for a series, the sort of territory Michael Atherton was in with Glenn McGrath in 1997 and David Gower with Geoff Lawson in 1989.
Warner is about to turn 33, but Langer rejects any notion he is past his best.
“He had an IPL where he was the leading run scorer, he had the World Cup where he was the leading run scorer,” he said.
“Talking frankly, he let Stuart Broad get into his head and he thought way too much about it. I’ve seen it before, even with the great players, every now and then they have a series — and I’m talking about the all-time great players — they have a series where …
“I remember Gilly with Andrew Flintoff, I remember seeing Steve Waugh sit on the team bus in South Africa and the guy had been a run machine for so long, he got out just before stumps and I — in a sick sort of way — thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen because I didn’t think great players had lean runs.
“I used to have lean runs all the time but even great players have lean runs and I’m sure David — we know he’s a very good player, there’s no question about that — but he had it tough, particularly against Stuart Broad.
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“I used to have it against Murali and I couldn’t solve the issue and it’s so hard when you try to problem solve and then you’re in the middle of a big series trying to solve the puzzle.
“In this instance I don’t think David solved the puzzle, and he’ll be first to admit that, he’ll probably be very relieved he gets on the Qantas flight in a day’s time and doesn’t have to face Stuart Broad for a while I reckon.
“But he is certainly, there’s plenty of upside still to his batting.”
Langer is keeping faith with the opener who has 21 Test centuries.
“I’ve learned over a long period you never write off champion players, it doesn’t matter what sport, you never write off champion players,” he said.
“They tend to come good don’t they. So he’s had a tough series, no doubt about that, but he’s also a champion player so usually with champion players they get a bit more time to come good.
“He had this series, it didn’t go to plan, but he’s seen how successful he’s been and the impact he can have on Australian cricket teams winning so I’m confident he’ll come good. Actually I’m hopeful he comes good.”
There are four Sheffield Shield rounds before the first Test is played against Pakistan in Australia 10 weeks from now, but there is also T20 series against Pakistan and New Zealand also on in the same period.
Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade were the only successful batsmen in the series and the first-class games will be an important trial for the three remaining places in the batting line up.
“I thought our bowling throughout this series was absolutely world-class,” Langer said. “I think we talked throughout about the maturity and healthy group of fast bowlers that we were able to have on the park. The bowlers were brilliant. Nathan Lyon as well — the way they all stepped up at different times.
“But, we didn’t bat well enough. I said this at the start of the series that the team that bats well will win the series. I said it consistently enough and we didn’t bat well enough. That’s the truth.
“Steve Smith was obviously outstanding.
What a pleasure to watch. He’s a brilliant young man but what a pleasure to watch him bat.
“I thought the development of Marnus was exciting. He worked so hard. He’s a bit in the Steve Smith mould of the players that you love to see do well. He worked so hard.
: The way Matthew Wade scored two centuries in this series, obviously including today. We talked about him knocking so hard to get an opportunity.
“He did that and then to back up with two Test centuries in an Ashes series showed great fight and great skill. I loved Matthew Wade’s footwork.
"But we certainly fell short in other areas and we need to work on that.”
Langer believes the side was hurt by its inability to back up after a win.
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“That probably comes with the maturity of the group as well,” he said. “It’s OK to fight back when you are underdogs and it’s one of those Australian things we love the underdog tag. To fight back from a tough loss is admirable and I said how proud I was with everyone for that.
“But also over the last couple of years we haven’t necessarily performed at our best after a win. Really good teams do that.
“We didn’t do that too well after the first Test at Lord’s. We didn’t do it after this Test. There have been some Test series over the last couple of years where the team hasn’t been able to. I think that’ll be part of the maturity of our side.
“If you probably think about it, the way we were in this series, we aren’t a great team yet. We are a good team, we are a maturing team.
“We have got some great players in it. But we’re aspiring to be a great cricket team. You got to work hard and get consistent results to achieve that.”
