Langer's address hits right notes for players: Finch

Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch has praised head coach Justin Langer for tackling "head on" the "confronting" concerns players had over his coaching style, during a pre-Caribbean tour squad get-together on the Gold Coast last weekend.

Finch revealed Langer, who is taking charge of the Australian team for the first time since reservations over his leadership were made public by Nine newspapers, raised the issue with the 18-man playing group.

The 105-Test rep is understood to have made a heartfelt address to an extended group of players and support staff, vowing to learn from his missteps.

He also agreed to further empower players and national captains Finch and Tim Paine in an address Finch said was well-received by players.

Tim Ford, the leadership consultant who conducted an end-of-season review for the men's teams last summer and previously assisted in the reintegration of David Warner and Steve Smith to the national team in 2019 following their year-long bans, was among those in attendance for the strategy and planning camp at the Royal Pines resort in south-east Queensland. 

Finch was unequivocal in his support for Langer.

"The ability of 'JL' (Langer) to address some issues that came up with the review with Tim Ford, that was brilliant for him to tackle them head on and put his side of the story (forward), put his spin on it," Finch told reporters via teleconference from the small Caribbean island of St Lucia.

"It showed the quality of the man he is, the things that he's working on. We're all behind him 100 per cent – the way he's coached Australia in the last couple of years has been fantastic, we've had some really good success as well.

"No doubt it was quite confronting for him at the time, but it was very positive from our point of view."

Finch suggested the taxing nature of last summer's bio-secure bubbles, which separated players and coaches from their families and from conducting regular social life for months on end, had contributed to Langer's tension.

"There was a combination of a few things," he said. "On the back a lot of bubbles as well, he could have used his assistants a bit better and delegated a bit more.

"But there was nothing ground-breaking – there's stuff that every player and every coach would reflect on (as areas for improvement) and he's no different.

"He's done a fantastic job. The way he confronted that and the way it was received by the players is outstanding."

Speaking earlier this year, Langer joked that he had been "grumpy and intense since I was 16 years old" but said he had been hurt to learn of the discontent through the media in the weeks after Australia's Test series loss to India.

"That's the killer," Langer, who has entered his fourth year as Australia's head coach after taking over from Darren Lehmann following the Cape Town scandal in 2018, told SportFM.

"I've talked for years about honest conversations and the worst part about it all for me was it came out two weeks after the Test match.

"If there was such an issue, the players or the assistant coaches would have come and spoken to me."

Finch pointed out bubbles had also been a key factor in the considerable number of players withdrawing from the away series against West Indies and Bangladesh.

Touring party members are not permitted to leave team hotels in St Lucia, Barbados or Dhaka (save for medical or approved recreation activities like playing golf) for the duration of the six-week tour, while they will then be subject to a fortnight of quarantine upon their return to Australia in August.

The T20 World Cup will then be held in the United Arab Emirates from September before the Test summer begins less than two weeks after that tournament's final.

"Honestly it was all around the bubble fatigue and guys having a a long summer," said Finch of the players pulling out of the tours, which include David Warner, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.

"When you go back to the start of the hubs and bubbles (being put in place by sporting bodies last year), going from lockdown to a tour of the UK (in August), to then IPL (immediately after), a home summer, a little bit of a break for some, other guys were in New Zealand (earlier this year) – it can wear you down a lot.

"That was all it was.

"We understand that is going to be the way of touring the world over the next couple of years, it's just about guys trying to manage themselves and giving themselves plenty of opportunity to play for Australia."

Qantas Tour of the West Indies 2021

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Nathan Ellils, Tanveer Sangha.

West Indies T20 squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Kevin Sinclair, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr

T20 series
(all matches at the Darren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia)

First T20: July 10, 9.30am AEST (July 9, 7.30pm local)

Second T20: July 11, 9.30am AEST (July 10, 7.30pm local)

Third T20: July 13, 9.30am AEST (July 12, 7.30pm local)

Fourth T20: July 15, 9.30am AEST (July 14, 7.30pm local)

Fifth T20: July 17, 9.30am AEST (July 16, 7.30pm local)

ODI series
(all matches at Kensington Oval, Barbados)

First ODI (D/N): July 21, 4.30am AEST (July 20, 2.30pm local)

Second ODI (D/N): July 23, 4.30am AEST (July 22, 2.30pm local)

Third ODI (D/N): July 25, 4.30am AEST (July 24, 2.30pm local)

* Details of five-match T20 tour of Bangladesh are yet to be announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Tours are subject to agreement on bio-security arrangements and relevant government approvals.