Justin Langer imagines selection meetings by Zoom
Justin Langer admits he can envisage the Australian team being selected by Zoom
Justin Langer admits he can envisage the Australian team being selected by Zoom as he vowed to roll his sleeves up in response to cuts to his support staff.
The Australian coach said advising batting coach Graeme Hick on Wednesday that he was to be made redundant was one of the toughest experiences of his career in cricket.
Langer said the touring party that travels with the Australian team on the road will shrink in size, but declared it would not compromise on support, expectation or performance.
One huge change could be that players could have their international futures decided on Zoom.
For decades, one of the staples of Australian Test cricket has been the presence of a specialist selector on tour — but Langer said that in the post COVID-19 era, it was possible national selectors Trevor Hohns and George Bailey may meet to help him pick teams from the other side of the world via video link.
“If you’d have asked me 12 weeks or 10 weeks ago, I’d have thought it’s nice to have a selector around or other people. For the players, it’s nice to see some other selectors around at times,” said Langer.
“But look at the way that these technology platforms (connect) and the fact that we are doing this now (press conference via Zoom), I’m sure there’s going to be scope for using a lot more of this technology to make these decisions, to talk to the captain, to talk to the senior players and that’ll be a part of it.”
Langer said the make-up of the how teams will be selected was still being worked through by high-performance chief Ben Oliver.
“I haven’t spoken to Ben about how the selection stuff will work yet,” he said. “No doubt we’ll work on that. I’m assuming he’s caught up with Trevor Hohns and George Bailey. I know he had conversations with them yesterday.
“I think there’ll be more in-depth conversations to work through actually how this is going to work. So, we’re aware of it now and now it’s up to us to do our job, to get creative and work out how it’s best going to work for the organisation and for the team.”
Langer has been forced to work part-time since April 16, but said he would not criticise Kevin Roberts over his decision to stand down staff at the onset of the COVID-19 affair.
The Australian coach said he had been rocked by the demise of Roberts and the redundancy of former England international Hick, news he had to deliver himself over the phone.
“It’s been a tough few days actually, that’s the truth of it. Having to tell Hicky yesterday morning was like facing Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh without a helmet and a box on,” said Langer.
“I was that nervous because you become good friends with them. He’s a ripping human being. There’s no doubt about that. You couldn’t meet a person with greater integrity than Graeme Hick and his work ethic is unbelievable. Knowledge of the game unbelievable. So it’s a really tough call.
“It’s nothing he’s done it’s more the impact of the cost cutting that we’re doing because of the COVID situation. It was really hard as it was seeing Kevin Roberts go the other day.
“You build relationships with these guys and the human side of it kicked in.
“I know it’s really, really complex the current situation we’re in. I’m certainly not pointing any fingers at Kevin because I know how hard it is, I can imagine how hard it is to be in his shoes at that time.”
Meanwhile, CA chairman Earl Eddings predicts his sport will be one of many to reconsider their risk management and cash reserves after the coronavirus.
While other sporting codes have been affected on the field, cricket is arguably the more susceptible to any threat dependent on timing.
There can be up to a $100 million swing in revenue from summer to summer dependent on the schedule, with seasons involving India and England easily the most lucrative in the four-year cycle.
“It will certainly make all organisations go back and look at their assumptions about risk management, including reserves policies,’’ Eddings said.
Daily Telegraph, AAP
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