By Andrew Wu
Australia's players accused a wound-up Justin Langer of not practicing what he preached at arguably the low point of the Test side's time without Steve Smith and David Warner.
Veteran batsman Usman Khawaja, acting as a team spokesman, told Langer his players were "intimidated" by the coach and "walking on eggshells".
Australian coach Justin Langer speaking at a media conference in Sydney in January, 2019, where he got 'two out of 10 grumpy'. Credit: AAP
The coach was given the stern message during a tense team meeting in the aftermath of the side's heavy loss in the Boxing Day Test against India in 2018.
Without their two champion batsmen, Australia collapsed in each innings, continuing a habit that had hobbled the side since the ill-fated series in South Africa through to the opening months of Langer's reign.
Usman Khawaja told Langer the players felt like they were walking on eggshells around the coach.Credit: Getty
Months after being given the feedback, Langer kept his cool in the days after his team's heartbreaking defeat at Headingley to engineer a stirring revival that resulted in Australia retaining the Ashes on English soil for the first time in 18 years.
The transformation of Langer as coach of the national men's side is one of the major themes of the eight-part documentary The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team, to premiere on streaming service Amazon on Thursday.
The production charts Australia's rise from the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa to the successful defence of the urn last year.
Australia's failure to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy formed the backdrop to the confrontation between Langer and his struggling players, who had not won a series in any format in the coach's first seven months at the helm.
After being told for months by Langer to ignore external criticism and media scrutiny, the players told the coach he had been affected by the "white noise".
Langer admitted he struggled to cope with the demands of the job. His wife was reduced to tears over the impact it had on him.
Australia's inexperienced batsmen were dominated by India's pace attack and complained of being put on edge by Langer, who struggled to contain his emotions - a concession he makes during the documentary.
Minutes earlier, Langer had been told by captain Tim Paine he needed to be more positive, a message echoed by a nervous-looking Khawaja.
"We can't always control the result. You get better as individuals, players, staff, everyone, be in better control of that emotion, be more level-headed, without trying to make it too complicated," Khawaja said.
"I think that's what the boys are trying to say. Does that makes sense? If it doesn't then... "
Asked where the message was coming from by Langer, Khawaja said: "Um, I think the boys are intimidated by you, Alf. I think there's a bit of the walking on eggshells sort of thing. I feel like I think the boys are afraid to say it."
Langer, who appeared to be taken aback by the criticism, said a prevailing message he received from his players was he had done what he had urged them not to.
"You have talked to all of us about white noise. And it's all white noise," Langer said. "And you say don't let it affect you, that's mental toughness but you've let it affect you."
After resolving in the new year to be more mellow, Langer changed his approach in India, allowing his team to take more control over training. The difference was noted by his players, who became the first Australian side to come back from 0-2 and win a five-game series.
The ultimate reward for Langer came at Old Trafford when Australia sealed victory in the fourth Test, less than two weeks after their sensational loss at Headingley.
After admitting he had erred in addressing player feedback while he was emotional in Melbourne, Langer waited until the day after Australia's Ashes loss in Leeds to conduct the post-mortem. He described it as the best week of his coaching career.