Cricket: Energetic Justin Langer desperate to exorcise one-day demons

Justin Langer has arrived in England, trailing his usual qualities of energy, enthusiasm and hyperbole.

Australia coach Justin Langer at the Ageas Bow in Southampton this week

Justin Langer, Australia’s head coach and an enduring link with a storied era, has arrived in England, trailing his usual qualities of energy, enthusiasm and hyperbole. Those who have watched Amazon Prime’s recent documentary on Australia cricket will recognise that Langer is in charge in a way that no other coach of that team has been before — and certainly could not have been in the great era in which he played: cajoling, prodding, caring, swearing, sweating, shouting, feeling, emoting — and, for the most part, succeeding.

Two days ago, Langer gave a briefing to the media, and it was clear that his relentless optimism and positivity has not diminished in the COVID-inspired hiatus. Pat Cummins, “the world’s best”; the opening combination of Aaron Finch and David Warner, “the best in the world”; Marcus Stoinis, “outstanding”; Steve Smith, “the world’s best batsman”; Alex Carey, an “outstanding human being”, and so on and so on, until the listener drowned in superlatives, wave after wave crashing over him.

Still, there is no questioning Langer’s impact since he was brought back in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal, when Australia cricket was at one of its lowest ebbs. With separate captains for Test and one-day cricket — Tim Paine in Tests, Finch in the limited-overs formats — it could be argued that a controlling, domineering coach is made more likely, although it hasn’t worked out that way with England, partly because of Chris Silverwood’s more reticent nature, and also because Eoin Morgan likes to be in charge.

Last time Australia came to England for an ODI series they were whitewashed, although Langer even found a way to paint this in a positive light: “My gosh, it put hair on their chests,” he said of the 2018 series. Now, his more hirsute team (or simply, one that involves champion cricketers who were absent then) have arrived: at full strength, as the No 1-ranked team in Test and T20 cricket but as an ODI team that is still searching for its identity to some degree, ranked mid-table as they are.

The T20 rankings are very uncertain but there is no doubting Australia’s standing. In the 12 months up to February, when cricket stalled worldwide, they had won nine from 11 matches, with series victories over India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa, fashioned from a template involving a strong spine to the team: Finch, Warner and Smith at the top of the order; Carey in the middle; Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa holding opponents at bay with spin and Mitchell Starc and Cummins providing muscle with the new ball.

Australia are so settled and successful in the shortest format, there may be no place for Ashes bolter Marnus Labuschagne, who hit a rapid 51-ball hundred in the final T20 warm-up in Southampton. His progress though, from unknown to one of the world’s best, is emblematic of Australia’s advance under Langer.

Coming out of lockdown against a team that has enjoyed more competitive match time, one might imagine England to have the edge initially, especially now that some first-choice players have returned after a summer of Test-match focus. Not that Morgan sees it that way: with his team not quite at full strength, he makes Australia slight favourites in the T20 series. That said, with a win ratio presently similar to that of his ODI side a year out from World Cup success, he is happy with progress before the two T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022.

Now that Tom Banton has announced himself, England have a surfeit of top-order batsmen, even without Alex Hales, who remains on the naughty step, and Joe Root, who can’t get a game in T20. To play, Root must bat in the top three in T20 but he finds himself with unprecedented competition, especially if Jos Buttler opens, as will be the case. With Jofra Archer and Mark Wood returning from Test duty, England will not be outgunned with the new ball although, in the round, Australia’s bowling may have the edge.

In the ODIs, Langer has not quite come to terms with England’s four-year dominance before lifting the World Cup last summer, which was based in no small part on an ultra-aggressive philosophy with the bat. During the initial stages of that competition, Finch and Langer repeated the mantra that Australia’s long-term success in 50-over cricket, with numerous World Cup wins, proved that their slightly more traditional approach was the right way, a claim that backfired during the semi-final thrashing at Edgbaston.

It was something that Langer touched upon again this week, when he implied that Australia’s failure to add to their World Cup count last summer was partly because of group-stage injuries (to Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh). That said, there was also a hint of self-doubt in his follow-up remarks.

“We’ve worked really hard over this COVID period on how we can improve our one-day cricket,” he said. “We’re going to make a few little changes to how we are going to select teams and hopefully that will get us some good outcomes, not only in the short term but leading up to the World Cup in three years’ time. We’re really clear on how we want to pick our Test team, we are really clear on our T20 make-up but we probably haven’t been as clear (in ODI cricket).”

If that was a rare admission of uncertainty, the rest was classic Langer, laced as it was with homilies about loyalty, honesty, partnerships and other qualities that drive this slightly manic figure. For a man who enjoyed a vast amount of success against England as a player, the 5-0 thrashing here two years ago, when his team were taken for a world record score at Trent Bridge, and the humbling in the World Cup semi-final, will be very painful memories. Over the next fortnight, he will be urging his players to erase them.

The Times