"It hurts"- Justin Langer on media leak regarding his coaching style
Justin Langer has revealed that he was hurt and distraught when issues regarding his coaching style were leaked to the media.
Last month, reports emerged that some of the Australian players were unhappy with Langer's 'micromanaging' and strict style of coaching.
Justin Langer, who divulged that the media leaks also affected his family, went on to say that being under constant spotlight has worn him down.
"I might sound like a sook here, but the biggest thing that will wear me down isn't the travel, isn't the game, isn't the three formats, it is just the incredible spotlight you are always under We've felt that the last few weeks. A lot of it was pretty rough, and that wears down my family as much as anything. I'm meant to be the tough guy, but it hurts," Justin Langer said on Perth's Sport.
The Australian coach was upset that the players and coaching staff didn't mention the discontent directly to him, and he only learnt it from the media two weeks after the series loss against India.
"That's the killer (learning about the discontent from media). 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," said the Australian coach.
The Australian cricket team have been under intense scrutiny after losing the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 to an injury-hit India side last month.
"We can always improve" - Justin Langer
Justin Langer expounded that his coaching style has been consistent since he took over the top job in 2018. However, Langer added that he can always improve further.
"I honestly believe that whilst there's areas we can always improve, the only thing that's really changed about me since I've been in this job, since I've been in the Western Australia (coaching job), is we lost a Test match. Nothing else has changed. I've been hopefully consistent for a really long time," Langer added.
Australia would have been keen to bounce back immediately after their series loss against India. However, their 3-Test tour to South Africa, which was supposed to start this month, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.