Australia’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch recently played down the rumours of a rift between head coach Justin Langer and players in the side. Langer has had a troublesome time as the head coach of the Australian side in the last few months amidst the team’s poor show against the likes of West Indies and Bangladesh.
Australia was thrashed 4-1 in the five-match T20I series against West Indies in the Caribbean which was followed by another shambolic defeat in the five-match T20I series against Bangladesh. The hosts humiliated a depleted Aussie side 4-1 at home to register their first-ever series win against Australia across formats.
Langer’s role as head coach has come under intense scrutiny after the team’s woeful defeats at the hands of the West Indies and Bangladesh. There have also been rumours of a rift between the head coach and some Aussie players, who are not happy with his coaching style. When asked about the reports of a rift, Finch said he doesn’t know the answer.
“It’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer to that,” Finch said on Big Sports Breakfast. “All I’ll say is when you lose, everything is magnified and everything is highlighted,” he added.
Finch said losing adds to the mental toll that players are already burdened with having to deal with strict bio bubbles due to COVID-19. The Australian skipper admitted that the team has not been up to the mark in the last few months and that losses can result in players getting burnt out.
“As I mentioned with the players on tour with bubble fatigue and guys not having any escape while you’re on tour, you’re locked into cricket mode almost 24/7 because you can’t get out and go for a coffee down the road or you can’t go out for dinner somewhere else,” said Finch.
“You’re literally just confined to the hotel 24/7. When you’re just around cricket the whole time, that can consume you so you get a little bit of burnout from that as well. And when you’re losing that just adds multiple layers to it as well. As everyone knows in sport, wins and losses are what counts and unfortunately, we haven’t been up to the mark in the last eight-ten months,” he added.
