Paine backs Langer after 'robust conversations'

Test skipper Tim Paine has backed Justin Langer to continue after some "tough and robust conversations" with Cricket Australia and is now calling on his teammates to rally around their coach. 

Player unease and public debate about Langer prompted a meeting between Paine, limited-overs captain Aaron Finch, vice-captain Pat Cummins plus CA chairman Earl Eddings and chief executive Nick Hockley.

Paine, speaking two days after Hockley indicated Langer would be in charge for the Twenty20 World Cup and Vodafone Ashes, argued it was "important" Australian cricket's most influential figures discussed the matter.

“We’ve had some really robust conversations amongst our leaders in the last few days and we’re really looking forward to the next six months with JL,” Paine told SEN.

“We’re looking forward to the World Cup, we’re looking forward to the Ashes, it’s an exciting period for any cricketer.

"If anything, I think we’re heading into that tournament and series even more galvanised and even more together.

“It was important that myself, Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins and the leaders of Australian cricket got around him, discussed things that needed to be discussed, and then got around him and supported him and looked to move forward.

“There’s no doubt the week has been difficult for him, but as I said the last few days, we’ve been able to galvanise around him and have some really robust discussions on where we want to take this cricket team, what we expect of him and what he expects of us.

"We want to be the best team in the world and to do that we need to have some tough and robust conversations. We've certainly done that as a senior group in the last 24-48 hours."

Langer is contracted to mid-2022, having joined in the wake of the Cape Town cheating scandal. His tenure has seen the national team rebuild trust with the Australian public, and successfully defend the Ashes in England in 2019, something that had not been managed since 2001.

"It's just been a bit of shame I think in the last week that a lot of the failings around Australian cricket have been pinned on JL, that's certainly not the case," Paine said.

Langer's intensity, and its reported capacity to rub some players the wrong way, has been magnified over the past year by biosecurity bubbles and the knock-on effect of touring parties living in each other's pockets.

The former Test opener said in July he felt like "Superman" after a camp on the Gold Coast, where he attempted to clear the air with disgruntled players after responding to feedback in an external review.

But ensuing leaks suggest everyone isn't on the same page yet.

Paine, Finch and Cummins will soon debrief with teammates, most of whom are either in hotel quarantine in Adelaide or locked down in Sydney, as they seek to shift focus to on-field matters.

"The next few days, no doubt given what has gone on, we'll look to get the group together," Paine said.

"Be really clear on what we expect of each other, make sure everyone is onboard for the journey, whether that's in small groups on a Zoom call - it's obviously impossible to get face to face at the moment."