Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne slammed Cricket Australia (CA) with his blunt remarks on the poor handling of the former coach Justin Langer’s exit. He called CA’s approach ‘pathetic’ and joined hands with former teammates who have jumped in to support the former Test opener.
“To treat the head coach the way they have, it’s an absolute disgrace what they’ve done. All of us who have played with Justin, we are not coming out because he’s our friend or a great cricketer or a Hall of Famer. We are coming out because it’s the treatment of the coach. Forget it’s Justin Langer. It’s just the treatment of Cricket Australia and the way they have handled the coach of the Australian cricket team. It’s been pathetic,” said Warne on the Follow-On podcast of Fox Sports.
Warne believes that the current Australian side is not a great team, that the opposition will be feared. “We were finally starting to see the integrity coming back to the Australian cricket. It’s not a great Australian cricket team we are talking about here. But all that Justin Langer put in over three or four years, we are just starting to see the rewards for his hard work,” he said.
Australia were able to retain the Ashes in England in 2019 and also won their maiden Men’s T20 World Cup title in the UAE last year which was followed by winning the Ashes at home 4-0 last month under Langer’s coaching.
“His brutalness, his intensity and his kick up the backside to the players. You know why? They needed it! If they can start doing this for another five or six years. Not to lose at home, beat India away and beat England away.
“Then we might start talking about this great Australian cricket team. But they aren’t at the moment. If they didn’t like his style and he had lost the dressing room, well, they better start performing. They have to perform,” Warne further added.
Warne also stated that the players of this generation don’t welcome criticism at all and are too sensitive to handle it. “I don’t think the modern-day player takes criticism very well. I think they are very sensitive. If you say they should leave someone out or they aren’t performing, then they hate you suddenly. Maybe some of us older guys who played a little bit and did OK, we might know a little bit about what we are talking about,” he said.
