Langer targets being number one in professionalism, honesty and humility

Cricket365
May 26, 2018

New Australia coach Justin Langer has been charged not only with getting Australia winning again but also with addressing cultural issues within the team.

Langer is set to take a hard line with players insisting on professionalism, honesty, humility and mateship.

Speaking after the first full day of training with the ODI and T20I squads, Langer said: “We’ve got to aim to be No. 1 in professionalism in the world, we’ve got to be No. 1 in honesty, that’s a really important value, and we’ve got to be No. 1 in humility.

“It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got, or how many games or how many runs, if you’re not a good bloke, that’s what people remember. So humility is important. Our mateship is really important, sticking together. So they’d be the main values at this stage.

“When I had the first selection meeting the other day and I saw you take those three names out, it’s a bit of a shock to the system, and it’s not even a cliche, but it’s a very good opportunity for some blokes. It’ll be great for us in the future to make sure our depth is strong.”

Australia have to expect to cop flak from the English public and media alike in the wake of the embarrassing Newlands ball tampering saga but Langer is determined to preside over the restoration of the team’s reputation.

“Expecting to cop plenty from the crowds and the media, but that’s England,” he said. “Even if you’re winning all the time and you’re squeaky clean you still cop it, so I’d say we’ll cop it just as much as usual, but that’s ok.

“It won’t take one tour or one year. It will take one behaviour, one thousand behaviours, one million behaviours to win back respect. If we behave well on and off the field, we will earn some trust and respect back. The Australian public loves the Australian cricket team but there is more to it than just being good cricketers.”