Langer, Paine set for leadership tour in US

Four of the most powerful figures in Australian cricket will embark on a 10-day leadership tour of the United States from next week as they look to live their values of 'elite learning'.

National men's team captain Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer, as well as Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland and EGM, team performance Pat Howard will meet with a host of world renowned sporting organisations and luminaries, including the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Cubs, and the high-performance coaching team behind American golfer Jordan Spieth.

"One of our values within the Australian team is elite learning," Langer told cricket.com.au.

"It's really important with all your values that you're living them every day, and this is a great learning opportunity for all of us to rub shoulders and meet people who have obviously been very successful.

"So we're walking the talk of always looking for new ideas, and looking to get better, and if the leaders of the team can be doing that, well that's a really good example to be setting for everyone else in the team."

Langer also sees the tour as an opportunity to further strengthen the ties between the four figureheads within CA, as the men's team begins a new era under the mentorship of the Western Australian.

"It's very important that Tim and I, and Pat and James, build a really strong relationship," he said. "I'm looking forward to being able to pick James's brain and use his long experience within Australian cricket.

"For Tim and myself, from everything I know about the modern game, the closer that we can be, the better.

"We both have really important roles to play. There's been a lot of talk over the years about 'Who's the boss – the captain, the coach, whoever else' but I don't look at it like that, I just look at it as a team of people – we drop all our egos and we get on with it.

"If we build really strong relationships, it's amazing what you can achieve."

Langer believes lessons learned from the leadership tour will be immediately applicable to a national team very much in transition, as preparations are honed ahead of the two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE in October.

"In line with this US tour, it's very, very important that we strongly develop our leaders within the group," he said.

"That's well and truly underway at the moment. Leadership doesn't just come with the flick of a switch – you've got to be looking for it to happen organically over time.

"So we've been doing some really good things in the pre-season, the guys have got a great opportunity in India (where Australia A are currently touring), and then of course it's going to be great to get back with the boys (in the UAE)."

Paine was named captain of the Test and ODI teams in the wake of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal in March, and the 33-year-old, who will leave the tour after the Dallas and Chicago legs, was strongly endorsed as a leader by Langer ahead of the Test series against Pakistan.

"He carries himself well," the coach said. "He's got so many of the strong leadership attributes that I respect – he leads by example, he's a very caring person, he's very well prepared both personally and strategically from a captain's point of view.

"They're all really strong attributes from the leaders I've known."

On the final leg of the tour, CA will join forces with MLB team Toronto Blue Jays to host a 'High Performing Teams' summit in Florida, while Langer and Howard will also attend a 'Leaders in Sport Performance' summit, where Howard will be a guest speaker. Other notable attendees include representatives of Toronto Maple Leafs, Cirque du Soleil, New Zealand Rugby, San Antonio Spurs and World Wrestling Entertainment.