Former Australian coach John Buchanan calls for more support for coach Justin Langer

Former national coach John Buchanan has no problems with players having of choice of where they play - but if it comes down to club over country then they must pay a price.

Steve Smith and David Warner during the Australian cricket teams training at ANZ Stadium. The cricketers are now in isolated groups away from their state teammates as they prepare for their upcoming One-Day and T20 series in England. They will be the first Australian sports team to travel abroad since Covid began. The squad is expected to be named as early as today. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Former Australia coach John Buchanan has called for players to have their contracts downgraded or terminated if they decline national tours.

And Buchanan wants an end to the finger pointing at under-siege coach Justin Langer with whom he had a tight player-coach bond during his decade at the helm of the Australian side.

Langer is fighting for his future after reports of a player uprising over his dressingroom intensity, but Buchanan believes players missing tours is a more important issue than the coach’s bedside manner.

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Steve Smith and David Warner are both absent from the current tour.

Seven players are absent from the current white ball tours of West Indies and Bangladesh after playing in the Indian Premier League, with bubble fatigue a prime reason for their withdrawal.

“It’s a privilege, not a right, to represent your country,’’ Buchanan said.

“Players should not be in a position to pick and choose when they play for Australia unless injured or it is part of their overall management plan.

“Should they choose not to play, then they should understand that they are not upholding their part of their contract, and so their contract is either diminished or made null and void.’’

Buchanan said he had no problems with players having the right to choose where they play and said he could understand circumstances where Australia’s plan was to give players exposure in Indian conditions to aid their development.

But he said if this was not the case then “Cricket Australia needs to crack down to support the coach in what he is trying to do.’’

Buchanan said while Langer was not above criticism, it should not be forgotten he was recruited to be an agent of change when Australian cricket was in ruins after the ball tampering scandal.

John Buchanan has gone into bat for Justin Langer.

“Justin was brought in to turn culture, values and high performance around.

“Leaders must lead and set the example. I’m worried skipping tours sets a bad example. To choose not to play for Australia because they have bubble fatigue due to the IPL – it works directly against the culture Justin is trying to imbue.’

“No coach is perfect. Justin is listening to the players’ views. As we did in 2005 after losing the Ashes, we had a solid debrief of everything. Some of the coaches behaviours and actions were required to change as indeed were the players.

“Everyone needs to take personal responsibility not just point the finger and the coach.’’

Starc faces tricky Covid dilemma

Mitch Starc is hopeful of government intervention to ensure he can play for Australia at both this year’s T20 World Cup and a Test match against Afghanistan in late November..

Paceman Starc, one of the finest white-ball bowlers in the world, looms as a certain selection in Australia’s squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14.

However, should Australia reach the final, two weeks of quarantine for the players on their return home would rule them out of the Test with Afghanistan starting in Hobart on November 27 – unless the government makes exemptions for them.

“We all want to play as much cricket as we can,” said Starc from St Lucia, where he is preparing for Australia’s five-match T20 series against West Indies starting on Saturday (EST).

“Test match cricket is certainly the pinnacle for a lot of us, certainly is for me, as is a World Cup, so it’s going to be hard to pick and choose between the two of them.

Mitch Starc may be faced with a World Cup or Test conundrum.

“I’m sure CA (Cricket Australia) are certainly thinking about it and putting plans in place.

The way of the world at the moment, it throws up a lot of hurdles.”

Regardless of whether exemptions are granted for the Test against Afghanistan, which will also serve as a tune up for this summer’s Ashes series, Starc is confident he will be well prepared for the five Tests against England.

“There have been past summers when we haven’t had tour games, warm-up games or Shield games before starting a Test match series,” he said.

“We’ve had to improvise and make sure we get a little bit of red-ball bowling in around white-ball preparations.

“It’s not something that is foreign or new. The multi-format players have all played cricket for quite a while and probably experienced the same situation, albeit in slightly different circumstances.”

Starc also stressed that Australia’s coach Justin Langer had the full backing of the squad in the West Indies following negative player feedback that led to a review.

Langer addressed the matter at a recent team camp on the Gold Coast and promised to tinker with his ways.

“It was a review of the whole group, not just Justin, and we spoke about a few things as a group, and he came forward and addressed the group from his side as well,” Starc said.

“The leadership he showed as the head coach was fantastic as well.

“Certainly, the whole group are behind him here, and we look forward to having him lead us through the next period of time.

“The time we’ve spent here in the West Indies so far, it’s been a great feeling around the group.

“It’s been quite relaxed and we’re looking forward to getting stuck into some next level preparation before that first game.”

Originally published as Former Australian coach John Buchanan calls for more support for coach Justin Langer