Michael Clarke slams ‘weak’ dressing room act amid Justin Langer allegations

Michael Clarke has blown up over accusations levelled at Justin Langer from inside the Aussie dressing room, demanding full transparency.

Michael Clarke has blown up over the Justin Langer leak.

Former captain Michael Clarke has blown up after allegations emerged Australian players are becoming fed up with coach Justin Langer’s hard-line attitude, labelling the way the saga has played out as “weak”.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the weekend dressing room sources indicated Langer’s intensity and overbearing management style were wearing thin with some stars as a tense series defeat against India at home capped off a draining 2020.

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Clarke said leaking the complaints to a journalist was the wrong way to go about addressing the issue, and urged Langer to confront whoever was responsible.

“This behind closed doors and going to a journalist, ‘source said’, is very weak,” Clarke said on the Big Sports Breakfast. “I hope that it hasn’t been the case, I hope it’s just a story creating a headline and a player hasn’t gone behind Lang’s back.

“I think it’s weak you don’t put the player’s name to it. I hope JL does find out who the player is and confronts him.

“If players feel this way, this is not the right way to go about it, this is going to cause chaos.

“Go and speak to JL and speak to the senior players. A lot of the time it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

“I still think you can find a way to have that conversation … without getting a black mark and saying, ‘You’re not getting picked again’.”

Clarke added although Langer’s style might be too abrasive for some, there are still workable solutions to the divide.

“Langer is tough as well, his character is hard. He will want these guys to know that if you are going to be successful at the highest level, every part of what we do is we challenge ourselves and we look to get better,” Clarke said.

“No doubt it is not going to be perfect for everyone. But that’s his style.

“Even if people have beef with that or don’t feel comfortable, go and talk to Lang about it or Painey (Tim Paine) as captain and try to get the best out of each other.”

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Captain Tim Paine has thrown his support behind Langer.

Meanwhile, veteran cricket reporter Robert Craddock believes Langer needs to adjust because the traits that made him so successful as a top order batsman across his 105 Tests don’t necessarily translate into coaching.

“Justin just has to work on being more soothing,” Craddock said on SEN Breakfast. “Intensity drove him to be the cricketer that he was, but that was something he could harness within himself.

“When that’s transferred onto others in a dressing room, at times it can be quite awkward.

“He was raised in a hard era, an abrasive era. It’s a much more sensitive world (these days), but he has to adapt, because it’s much easier for him to adapt to the team than the team to adapt to him.”

During a lengthy tour of the UK in 2019, Langer had good mate Ricky Ponting to turn to as an assistant during the World Cup, and former captain Steve Waugh was embedded within the squad as a mentor during the Ashes.

Amid reports players are seeking counsel from assistant Andrew McDonald more so than Langer, Craddock suggested the coach could benefit from a similar arrangement to what was implemented in 2019.

“In England, when the team was winning he had Stephen Waugh there with him, and Ricky Ponting,” Craddock said.

“I think that would have alleviated the stress factor, giving players someone else to go to, and giving Justin someone to go to himself.”

Langer isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

However, Langer rejected suggestions his relationship with the players is on shaky ground, telling Nine newspapers on the weekend it “couldn’t be further from the truth”.

“If players just want someone to tickle their stomachs all the time then I’m not doing my job,” he said.

Langer was a central figure in fly-on-the-wall documentary The Test, which premiered on Amazon last year, and his intensity was on full display during robust discussions with senior player Usman Khawaja.

Khawaja confronted the coach after a net session in the UAE, arguing Langer’s instructions and rules were too stifling, prompting the 50-year-old to hit back and say the batsmen could run their own batting drills when they stopped collapsing all the time.

Khawaja also told Langer players were “walking on eggshells” because they were intimidated by him.