SRI LANKA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA 2018-19

Kept thinking, imagine if we get beaten by Sri Lanka at the Gabba - Langer

by Adam Collins • Published on

Langer dubbed the other newcomer Jhye Richardson as a "cricket tragic" before lauding his skill and discipline © Getty

"I kept thinking before the game, imagine if we get beaten by Sri Lanka at the Gabba? That's why I haven't slept much the past week!" It's a quote that could only come from one person in Australian cricket: Justin Langer. If you close your eyes, it isn't hard to imagine his gesticulations when offering the kind of insight that seldom comes out of the media machine unless it is the Australian coach in front of the microphones.

Saturday was a good day for Langer and his fledgling side, dispatching Sri Lanka, unearthing a gem of a fast bowler, Jhye Richardson, across the three days. Yet hours earlier, he woke to a magazine profile that, for the most part, took the piss out of his eccentricities. Behind a keyboard, this is easy to do - we all do. Face to face, less so. In more intimate environments, his earnest and vulnerable words can be quite disarming. A little bit charming, even.

Of course, nothing about what Langer inherited is straightforward, not least selection. For instance, it has been reported that the West Australian was overwhelmed by the searing criticism directed his way after announcing his UAE Test squad when dropping Glenn Maxwell. Sensing a similar backlash could be coming his way when the decision was taken not to give wunderkind Will Pucovski a debut at Brisbane, he considered an unorthodox option.

"I almost rang Pete (Lalor, The Australiannewspaper's cricket correspondent) actually," he revealed. "This is a true story; to see how it would be received from the public picking someone from outside the (original squad)." Langer continued: "You agonise more, probably, at this point of the season about what's going to get reported on if I'm completely frank. Hopefully, I'll get tougher over the years that way and won't think about that."

It's the sort of admission that serves as a reminder that Langer is, after all, only six months into his tenure. For those longing to get a consistent read on how he is going to fare in steering this side to a far better place than where they currently reside, they will be disappointed. A cop out, perhaps, but it is just too early to know how this will work out. Just like his young players, he's also seeking a method to make his new job work.

Where Langer can be satisfied is that the two players brought into the XI from outside the original squad both looked the part. "I was really glad we had the courage to have that flexibility and bring someone in from outside," he said of Kurtis Patterson, who copped a lovely delivery on 30 but looked at ease across 82 balls in the middle. "He looked like a Test batsman [with] such a good rhythm going. He's a good looking player and took some great catches in the gully. He's another cricket tragic so you like having cricket tragics in the Australian cricket team."

Langer also dubbed the other newcomer Jhye Richardson (match figures 27-10-45-5) as a "cricket tragic" before lauding his skill and discipline at the crease. In the space of a Test, he has all-but bowled himself into the Ashes. But as to whether he is used primarily as a swing specialist in England, that is far from certain. Others, such as Peter Siddle, Dan Worrall and Trent Copeland, are likely to get their chance if they finish the domestic season well.

"I hope I'm not talking out of school with the other selectors but I can't see us picking the Ashes before the Australian A tour," Langer said, noting that they will delay the naming of the formal Ashes touring party until well into the 'A' tour, taking place earlier in the northern summer. "There'll be really good opportunities for the guys who are picked for Australia A, while the World Cup is on, to put their hand up."

With the bat, Langer was satisfied that Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne - two players he has backed heavily - made steady progress at the Gabba, both posting new highest scores in a partnership worth 166. "Heady hit one loose shot and it was almost like, 'oh snap, that's right, everything I've been talking about' and then he let the ball come to him and he looked like a really good Test player," he said. "That's the good thing about experience. You've got to go through some tough times to learn it. I talked to him, and he said, 'imagine if I got out there, caught at third man again.' But he learned from that and that's good for him."

As for the Queenslander, Langer's belief remains that he is more than the sum of his parts as an international prospect. "When he got selected in the UAE that's what people saw how he was going about it," he said. "More than just the runs, he had good footwork, he plays spin really well. On the Gabba wicket, he played the spin so well. He plays almost like an Indian batsman, he gets back, uses his feet, and uses his hands into gaps, uses the sweep shot well, gets down the wicket. It was more what we were seeing in how he was going about it, not necessarily just the runs he was making. Sometimes you pick people on how they go about their business and then you back yourself that they're going to have a good career."

Langer did express a preference for an unchanged team for the second Test even with Marcus Stoinis added to the squad in the event that a determination is made that the notoriously flat pitch at Canberra demands an extra seam option. He did offer the rule of thumb, though, that any all-rounder used in Test cricket under him will need to justify their worth: "They've got to be picked as a batter who bowls a bit or as a bowler who you've got to be able to be picked on one of the disciplines alone. That's a great challenge for all the all-rounders in the country."

A reminder of Langer's irritable side was on display when answering questions on radio about the form of Mitch Starc. An hour later, in a better mood with the press, he simply noted that he wouldn't dispense with a bowler boasting 200 Test wickets any time soon. Pragmatic, loyal, volatile, sincere, curious - all in another day with Langer. Six and a bit months down, six far tougher ones to come. What's certain: there will be no ignoring him.

© Cricbuzz

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