Justin Langer has urged the Australian players to remain positive through the coronavirus outbreak
Australia coach, Justin Langer, has urged his players to remain positive in these testing times. The worldwide emergency situation brought about by the coronavirus pandemic has seen sports activities cancelled across the world.
Australia were in the middle of a home ODI series against New Zealand when the matches had to be cancelled. After their short tour of New Zealand was called off, their Test tour of Bangladesh seems to be in danger of being postponed.
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With all cricket being suspended almost indefinitely at the moment, Langer is worried about the impact that this prolonged isolation period could have on his players. However, he currently wishes to focus on the national team’s contracts that Cricket Australia are set to announce on April 2.
"I think we're sticking to the plan of the 2nd of April," Langer said. "Out of respect we'll talk to the players who have been contracted this year and who missed out on a contract."
While Glenn Maxwell’s recent struggles with mental health may have put things in perspective for the Australian players, Langer hope they will use the extended break to spend time with family and recharge their batteries.
He says he hopes to help his players find the silver lining with the situation in the world right now.
"I'm trying to encourage our players to find some silver lining," the Australian coach said. "We identified in South Africa a number of our players were physically and mentally exhausted. We had all winter (in England) with the World Cup and the Ashes then into our summer... it gives them [players] a really good opportunity to recharge. We're looking at scenarios to make sure we'll be ready for whatever comes."
Langer also spoke about how they are keeping a check on the players that were living by themselves, citing how caring about people is an important part of leadership.