Langer steps down as coach, effective immediately

Justin Langer's time as head coach of Australia's men's team is over after the former opening batter ended six months of speculation and walked away from the role.

Langer's management group confirmed on Saturday their client had tendered his resignation, effective immediately.

Langer had spoken with Cricket Australia officials on Friday night after his future was discussed at length at a seven-hour board meeting earlier in the day.

Cricket Australia (CA) later revealed that Langer had been offered a short-term contract extension, which he rejected.

Andrew McDonald, an assistant coach under Langer, has been appointed head coach in the interim.

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said they held discussions last night about extending Langer's contract until the end of the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

"We're disappointed that Justin decided not to accept this extension and instead resigned, effective immediately," Hockley told reporters on Saturday afternoon.

"We very much felt that Justin had earned the right to defend the T20 World Cup on home soil … but we understand and respect his decision."

Hockley said the contract extension offered was for a "period of transition", and the CA board was unanimous in endorsing that approach.

Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement earlier this afternoon that it had accepted Langer's resignation, which they received today.

"Justin was offered a short-term extension to his current contract, which sadly he has opted not to accept," the CA statement read.

"CA would like to thank Justin for his outstanding leadership since he became Australian men's team coach in 2018 and for guiding the team to the T20 World Cup title last year and the 4-0 Ashes victory.

"Justin is not only a legend of the game but an outstanding individual.

"The contract extension offered to Justin was the result of a thorough review process that evaluated many factors including future requirements of the team and the upcoming extensive schedule of fixtures.

"The extension was approved by the CA Board and was put to Justin last night. It included the opportunity to defend the T20 World Cup title in Australia at the end of this year.

"Justin informed CA this morning he was not accepting the offer and would resign with immediate effect."

Langer's future had been a point of contention for more than a year, with reports of widespread discontent among players and coaches about his methods.

The issue was first made public in The Test documentary in 2020, where Usman Khawaja told Langer players were "intimidated" and "walking on egg shells".

At a camp in June last year, players had offered "confronting" feedback to Langer over his coaching style, with white-ball captain Aaron Finch praising the coach for taking it head on.

But the matter threatened to boil over again in August when Finch, Tim Paine and Pat Cummins met with CA's hierarchy to raise further concerns. 

It prompted Langer to take a much more hands-off approach in the Twenty20 World Cup, which Australia won for the first time.

Beyond that, Langer's 55.5 per cent win record in Test cricket is second only to John Buchanan among all Australia coaches.

He also led Australia's first retention of the Ashes in England in 18 years in 2019 before winning the series 4-0 this summer, as well as claiming the World Cup.

Just last month, Australia also returned to the No.1 ranking for Test cricket, marking the second time they had gone back to the top under Langer's watch.

But the longer the summer went on it became clearer players were not willing to publicly endorse an extension of the coach's contract beyond its expiry date in June.

Cummins shouldered arms when asked about Langer's future after Australia wrapped up the Ashes and again refused to endorse him as coach as recently as this week.

"Justin has been an outstanding coach of the Australian men's team over the past four years," Hockley said in an earlier statement.

"He has restored the trust in the team and his legacy is assured.

"We are extremely proud of his achievements since he took over in 2018, including the recent T20 World Cup victory and Ashes success.

"We are naturally disappointed Justin has decided against continuing as coach but respect his decision and wish him all the best in the future.

"I would like to sincerely thank Justin and also his family for all that they have given to Australian cricket over the past four years, for which we remain eternally grateful."