Aussie pace ace Mitchell Starc says he has no issue with Justin Langer, despite the former coach’s explosive tell-all interview where he called out cricket’s “cowards”.
Langer made nationwide headlines this week in a controversial podcast that revealed the “brutal” conversations he had with captains Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch before resigning in February.
The Langer coaching saga, which has already been blamed for an apparent divide with current and past players, is also reportedly behind the shock low crowds at the recent World Cup tournament where the Aussies failed to reach the finals.
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But Starc says talk surrounding Langer’s messy exit is just “outside noise” heading into Wednesday’s First Test against the West Indies in Perth.
“It doesn’t bother me,” he said of Langer’s comments.
“I’d like to think I’ve got a pretty good relationship with Justin.
“We exchanged a few text messages post-World Cup so as far as I’m concerned, I’m pretty comfortable with how my relationship is with JL.”
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When asked directly if he or his teammates were “cowards”, as Langer called those who leaked stories to the media, Starc replied: “I wouldn’t call ourselves that, no.”
“I don’t read any media stuff. I couldn’t tell you what was in the podcast,” he said.
“Obviously you hear things around the traps but I think, as a group, there’s plenty of outside noise from what everyone else makes of it. We’re pretty comfortable inside as a group and have spent a lot of time together as a three-format group.
“For us, it’s all preparation for this Test match and not too much is going to distract us outside of that.”
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The West Indies Test will be Australia’s first on home soil since Langer turned down Cricket Australia’s short-term extension – instead of the typical four-year deal.
And it will the first Test in Perth since December 2019, after the State was snubbed for series against India and England.
Langer had hit out at the lack of support he received from the Cricket Australia board, and has since moved to clarify comments made about current Aussie skipper Pat Cummins.
“I spoke to Pat Cummins. He said to me about five times, ‘This might be brutally honest’. I said, ‘Pat, there is nothing brutal about your feedback. What is brutal is I’m hearing it behind my back through the media or through sources. No one’s telling me. Tell me’,” Langer said on the BackChat podcast.
“Everyone was being nice to my face but I was reading about this stuff, and half of it … I could not believe that is what was making the papers.
“A lot of journalists use the word ‘source’. I would say, change that word to ‘coward’. A coward says, not a source. Because what do you mean ‘a source says’? They’ve either got an axe to grind with someone and they won’t come and say it to your face, or they’re just leaking stuff for their own agenda.
“I talked to the Cricket Australia board three times in four years. That’s craziness. And that’s the only thing I’d do differently. Because when you know people haven’t got your back, there is no lonelier place in the world. When you do know people have got your back, there’s no more powerful place in the world. And that’s what I would have done differently.”
Speaking in the days after the podcast aired, Langer rejected suggestions he was at “war” with Cummins and other members of the Australian team.
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“I’ve been in touch with these guys ever since I stopped being in the team and I can’t wait for the Test match to start next week, and the reason I can’t wait is I haven’t seen them. I haven’t seen the boys since I finished in February,” he said on Thursday.
“Those guys we’re talking about, I ate with them, I drank with them, I celebrated with them, we got through Covid together, we got through sandpaper together, we won the World Cup together, we won the Ashes together. They’re like my little brothers!”
