'That literally broke my heart' - Justin Langer opens up on his exit as Australia's head coach

Former Australia cricketer Justin Langer recently opened up on his exit as head coach of the national team and said that it hurt him big time. Langer was presented with an insulting extension of his contract for six months after which he decided to walk away from his role. It was reported that several players in the team had concerns with Langer’s coaching style and found him to be too intimidating.

Reflecting on the incident, the former opening batter said that the hardest thing for him was to read that he had a fallout with his players. He further called all players as his sons and stated that the narrative of the fallout hurt him the most.

“The hardest thing through the end of my time as coach was [reading] that I had fallen out with my players. That literally broke my heart. To this day. I saw them all this week, I saw them all summer. They are like your sons. I had four years with them, like sons. And then I kept reading that I had fallen out with my players. But nothing ever came out publicly, but I kept reading that, this narrative. That hurt me the most. I love my players, and I still do,” Langer was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

Notably, Langer had a successful tenure as a head coach as under his tenure,  Australia recovered from the aftermath of the sandpaper-gate, retained (series draw) the Ashes in England after 18 years, won their first-ever T20 World Cup in 2021, and won their second successive Ashes at home by 4-0. However, Lnger couldn't retain his position and Andrew McDonald was appointed the new head coach in April 2022.

I have never been happier: Justin Langer

Further talking about his time away from the coaching job, Langer said that he’s never been happier as he’s getting to spend a lot of time with his family.

“I have never been happier. I have loved my life for the last 18 months. For 30 years I have spent two months at home and 10 months away. Now I spend 10 months at home and two months away,” he added.

Australia have recently won the World Test Championship final 2023 and are eager to win their first Ashes series in England since 2001.