Justin Langer welcomes Marcus Harris to the ‘brotherhood’
Three years ago he was cast as the ‘mediocre’ man of Australian cricket, but on Thursday a cheeky text message welcomed ‘little brother’ Marcus Harris into the baggy green clan.
Three years ago he was cast as the ‘mediocre’ man of Australian cricket, but on Thursday a cheeky text message welcomed Marcus Harris to the ‘brotherhood’.
Australian coach Justin Langer felt moved to emphatically quash recent insinuations he once fell out with Harris over his move from Western Australia to Victoria, passionately calling the Test bolter to face India in Adelaide, his “little brother”.
As Harris scrambled to find his dog Archie a ‘puppy hotel’ in Melbourne for Christmas upon finding out he’ll now be on the road with the Australian team, his phone pipped with a message from Langer that simply said, “welcome to the brotherhood, you little bastard.”
When Harris left WA for Victoria, Langer was quoted describing the left-handed opener who bats in his own image as “mediocre with flashes of brilliance.”
But after sitting atop the Sheffield Shield run-scoring list for the second straight season, Harris is now vying with Peter Handscomb for a place in Langer’s Test XI.
Harris is relying on Langer moving Usman Khawaja from opener to No.3, while Handscomb’s hopes rest on selectors feeling a right-hander is needed to break up the flow of lefties in the middle order.
Langer doesn’t back away from his old comments, but vehemently set the record straight about rumours of a rift with his diminutive protégé born out of the same junior club in Perth.
“Let me squash this right away. Marcus Harris is like my little brother … I keep reading the headlines and it’s like a dagger in my heart. It’s an absolute myth and I hate myths,” said Langer.
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“Did I say mediocre with flashes of brilliance? Yeah I did. That’s because that’s what he was. That’s the truth.
“He’d get 20s and I used to want to shake him every time.
“Last time we spoke about it (his move to Victoria) he sat there and spoke to me for an hour and a half and I tried to talk him into staying. By the end I said, ‘no, I get it. I understand. Have a fresh start.’
“We had a big hug and have been in touch ever since.
“What he’s done to his great credit is become a really consistent opening batsman, with flashes of brilliance. And that’s what really good players do.”
Langer admits he is leaning towards sticking with the chemistry of Aaron Finch and Khawaja at the top, but said Harris couldn’t be any closer to playing – with a possibility the 26-year-old could even play the unaccustomed role of No.3.
Travis Head has been assured he is a certain starter for Adelaide, as are the Marsh brothers.
Harris has already scored over 400 runs this season and is the Shield’s second top run-scorer, but admits Langer was 100 per cent right when he once called him “mediocre.”
“He texted me before and said, ‘welcome to the brotherhood you little bastard’. It will be good to see him, I haven’t seen him for a little while,” said Harris.
“It didn’t really wind me up too much with what he said. We had a really good meeting when I left WA and I know we ended on good terms. I understood that if you put a lot of time into someone and they leave, you’d be upset.
“I’ve probably matured more (since then). Consistency has been my main focus and it’s probably gone to show with my results.”
Langer declared Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood “100 per cent” fit despite naming two back-up quicks in Chris Tremain and Peter Siddle.
The fiery coach said Australia’s breakthrough T20 win over India showed the character of a team that’s sick of losing.
“(We’ve) had enough of it. We’ve had enough of getting bashed up and I loved how brave the boys were,” he said.
“The way they fielded, batted, they were brave. We had a red hot dip and that’s what we’re good at as Australians.
“We’ve had enough of this, we’re going to turn it around.”
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