Test captain Pat Cummins has met Adam Gilchrist in the first act of a diplomatic campaign to ease the tension between past and current players stemming from the messy departure of former coach Justin Langer.
Neither Cummins nor Gilchrist would comment to the Herald and The Age about the meeting in Adelaide this week during the lead-up to Australia’s opening one-day match against England.
Pat Cummins met Adam Gilchrist this week to discuss the fallout over Justin Langer’s departure as coach.Credit:Getty Images
However, multiple sources close to the situation say it was likely to be the first of a number of chats Cummins will have with greats in an effort to heal the divide.
Australia’s failure to make the finals of the T20 World Cup and defend the title they won in Dubai last year has proved a lightning rod for criticism of the national team.
Current players and support staff believe there is an “agenda” behind the pile-on. They believe Langer’s former teammates are using their media profiles to continue the feud that erupted at the end of the Ashes in January.
The latest is Mark Waugh, now a commentator for Fox Sports, who began his column in Wednesday’s The Daily Telegraph by saying: “Justin Langer may be gone, but his shadow still hangs over Australian cricket.”
Former Australian vice-captain and now Fox commentator Adam Gilchrist.Credit:Getty Images
Waugh’s column said Australian fans were no longer connecting with the team since the players forced Langer out. Waugh also questioned the style of current coach Andrew McDonald, who was a senior assistant under Langer from late 2019.
“The perception from the outside among ex-cricketers is the line is a bit blurred at the moment and there are questions about whether McDonald is too friendly and matey with all the players and is not going to make the hard decisions.”
Fresh from a sublime, unbeaten 80 in Australia’s six wicket one-day victory over England at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, Steve Smith said the criticism of McDonald was unfair.
“I think it’s good that you can have a relationship with the coach and be able to speak honestly and openly about whatever you’re going through and selections and all that kind of stuff,” Smith said.
Fox commentator Mark Waugh claimed that Justin Langer’s shadow still hangs over Australian cricket.
Asked about Waugh’s assertion that McDonald was too “matey” with the players and was not making hard decisions, Smith replied: “I don’t think that’s the case at all.”
Gilchrist, who was angry when Langer was forced out and made that clear on his Perth radio show at the time, has been more reasoned as Fox Sports’ leading cricket commentator.
Gilchrist defended Glenn Maxwell after he was heavily criticised for saying he wouldn’t dwell on Australia’s T20 World Cup failure.
“I think you move on pretty quickly,” Maxwell said before suffering a freak broken leg at a party last Sunday. “We’ve got a one-day series against England … and then we’ve got the Big Bash and then we’ve got four-day cricket.”
During Thursday’s telecast of the England-Australia one-day match, Gilchrist empathised with Maxwell, relating his own experiences of celebrating World Cup success and how cricket commitments moved on quickly.
“A comment like Glenn Maxwell made, people have come down heavy saying he was blasé and didn’t care because there was going to be a game next week,” Gilchrist said.
“I didn’t see it as that. I thought he was just stating the obvious. He may want to have articulated it better, but the reality is, here we are, four days after England have won a World Cup that is so coveted in world cricket, and the celebrations were cut short to get another game of cricket in.”
Matthew Hayden, Langer’s great mate and record-breaking opening partner, was clear about Australia’s failure to make the T20 World Cup finals during a press conference as Pakistan’s batting coach later in the tournament.
“Certainly from an Australian cricket point of view, there has to be planning heading towards world cups,” Hayden said. “Australia, unfortunately, just didn’t get it right.”
Fox Sports, which has held the rights to Australian cricket since 2018, is currently in negotiations with Cricket Australia about the next cycle, as is the free-to-air network Channel Seven, which has hired Langer to commentate this summer.
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