Justin Langer "lost the wrong players" and Australia exit was "kick in the face"

10 January 2023 , 12:41

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David Warner has opened up about Justin Langer's exit as Australia coach (Image: Daniel Pockett - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

David Warner has called Cricket Australia's decision to only offer Justin Langer a six-month contract extension before his eventual resignation as head a "kick in the face", while admitting the 52-year-old "lost the wrong players".

In the second season of Amazon Prime documentary series 'The Test', Australia's players opened up about Langer's exit which came after he rejected the short-term contract extension and stood down, citing a lack of support from senior players, support staff and the board.

In the series, Warner's opening partner Usman Khawaja claimed that some players were "afraid" of Langer, while praising him for bringing "humility back into the Australian cricket team".

And Warner also gave his thoughts on Langer and the manner of his exit, stating: "He wanted to keep coaching. It was a bit of a kick in the face to offer him a six-month contract. He lost a fair few players, and probably the wrong players."

Warner's comments come after former Australia skipper Tim Paine wrote in his autobiography that Langer was "hung out to dry" by Cricket Australia.

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"I watched the lead-up to this in my last year as captain, no issue consumed me like this one did," Paine wrote of Langer's exit. "And nobody will stop me believing JL was very, very poorly treated.

"Take the outcome out of it, that's not the point, the way that situation was managed was a disgrace, but not a surprise. A man tasked with rebuilding Australian cricket's reputation was hung out to dry.

Former captain Tim Paine staunchly defended his old coach (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

"And then the news came that they'd offered him a six-month contract. What the f***? To add to the insult, it had been dragged out. Time was wasted.

"I'll never back down from my opinion that it was poorly handled, embarrassing and unprofessional. I think they knew he wouldn't accept it and then they wouldn't have to sack him. It was the easy way out.

"It was upsetting to see a man who cared so much treated like that. It hurt him deeply. The bottom line in all of this is, whether he was kept on or not, he should have been treated better."

Matthew Cooper