Justin Langer’s concussion headache

Justin Langer threatened to never speak to Ricky Ponting again over a head knock. Now, as coach, he sings a different tune.

Justin Langer is helped from the field after being struck in the head by a delivery from South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini at Wanderers Stadium in 2006

One night at a dinner party Kerry Packer told Justin Langer that he owed him his life. The media mogul claimed that had they not been forced to invent batting helmets during World Series Cricket the young batsman would be dead.

It was a fair point.

Langer took more than the occasional blow to his head over the years and while his experiences are eerily similar to Will Pucovski and Cameron Green’s in the past week they have been rendered irrelevant and inapplicable to the young men he coaches because times and attitudes have changed profoundly.

In January 1993, on the eve of his Test debut, Langer was concussed by a delivery from Victoria’s Tony Dodemaide at the WACA.

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“My recollection is — and this is a reflection of the changing attitudes — that in those times they didn’t check the helmet, let alone check the player,” Dodemaide said on Sunday.

“It was viewed as, more or less, a test of your mettle, if you wanted to go off it was a sign of weakness. You were expected to get back up and fight on.”

Dodemaide raised the point that not long before that helmets were frowned upon in a lot of circles.

“If you wore one it was another sign of weakness and to some bowlers a helmet was a red rag to a bull as far as bowlers were concerned,” he said.

Tony Greig was targeted by bowlers for having the temerity to wear one of those early models. One of the more famous moments in World Series Cricket was Dennis Lillee laughing and knocking his own head with a fist after the England star had been struck on the helmet during a game.

Greig had responded to the blow with a shimmy of his hips. The game continued without interruption.

Langer, as Dodemaide recalled, batted on after being struck that day in Sheffield Shield, but was dismissed by the bowler lbw for 11.

Justin Langer gets hit in the helmet on the first ball he faced in Test cricket in 1993

In his next match he wandered to the middle of Adelaide Oval against the West Indies to make his debut. The night before he had slept with the baggy green on his head and he had worn it with pride in the field, but he was at least sensible enough to wear a helmet out to bat.

Mark Taylor had been dismissed cheaply, David Boon was waiting in the middle to greet his partner for what was a difficult little session late on day one.

He was 22 — the same age as Pucovski and just a year older than Green — and wearing what looked like a mattress under his shirt. With Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Bishop in the attack it was wise to wear all the protection one could find.

Bishop dropped the first delivery in short and Langer was struck a fearful blow to the back of the head. Packer was right, if he hadn’t been wearing a helmet he would have been in serious trouble.

West Indies fielders ran in to assist. Langer bounced to his feet and staggered to the side of the pitch — it was obvious that the young batsman was in trouble — but he was not going to stay down.

Langer said his knees were wobbling like a boxer getting a standing count.

One of the fielders appeared to hold the Australian up. Boon was clearly concerned for his partner.

“Son, there’s no heroes in cricket, you should retire hurt,” Langer recalls him saying.

He didn’t because you didn’t. As Dodemaide correctly observed, it was a sign of weakness to leave the field — not rubbing the spot when you’ve been hit lands in the same column without the same potential for serious consequence.

He batted on as he had in the Shield and almost set the game up for Australia with a half century in the second innings.

Langer almost bookended his career with concussions, but the one at the back end of his time was even worse than the first.

An opener now, he was cleaned up by Makhaya Ntini on the first ball of his 100th Test match in Johannesburg in 2006.

Struck on the back of the head, again, Langer went down but did not bounce back to his feet as he had 13 years and 99 games earlier.

When Pucovski was hit in the Australia A match it was a glancing blow that sent the ball running down towards the third man boundary. In this instance at the Wanderers the ball flew back to the bowler on the full.

Matthew Hayden called for physiotherapist Alex Kountouris who eventually led the bleeding, dazed batsman from the field.

He did not recover from the blow and was held out of the second innings which went down to the wire.

Australia needed 17 to win when the eighth wicket fell and Langer placed captain Ricky Ponting in an invidious position.

By now the dangers of concussion were better understood and Ponting had been told his close friend could be seriously — if not fatally — hurt if he was hit again.

Langer padded up, Ponting said he would declare if he saw him leave the dressing room. Things were very emotional.

“If you declare we are not friends any more,” Langer told his mate.

Fortunately Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz got the side home and no further damage was done to friendship or Langer.

The change in attitude during Langer’s career was highlighted by the responses to the two incidents, but things have advanced further since.

The consequences of concussion are better understood and managed, but one thing has not changed, the incidents then and now left Langer with an enormous headache.