Usman Khawaja believes Australian cricket coaches should be restricted to four-year terms, such is the gruelling nature of the pivotal role.
Reacting to Langer’s claim on a recent podcast that internal leaks from “cowards” undermined his position as head coach of the national team, Khawaja said he had a good relationship with the former great but highlighted it was a “tough” job.
Khawaja believes Langer was the “perfect person” to be appointed coach after the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal in 2018, restoring discipline to the team and helping to repair the shattered reputation of Australian cricket.
“Australian coaches shouldn’t have more than a four- to five-year window where they can coach because this job will get you down and things change so quickly with international sport,” Khawaja said in Perth ahead of the first Test against the West Indies, which begins on Wednesday.
“I’ve had this conversation with Andrew McDonald before he became coach, and he actually agreed with me. When you’re coach doing all three formats, they should have a timeline like the US presidency that is terms of four years. Coaching, it’s a very tough gig and to do it for a long time consistently, you’re always away travelling and under scrutiny.”
Langer’s predecessor, Darren Lehmann, advised Langer to “walk away” after his four years in the job.
Usman Khawaja celebrates a century during Australia’s tour of Pakistan last March.Credit:AP
“Knowing Justin, he won’t want to step aside. But he should or he will burn out,” Lehmann told Fox Sports back in January. “If I was him I’d walk away actually. Four years, out on a high. Perfect.
“I coached for a year too long and in that moment I didn’t realise it. I think four years is a perfect tenure. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
While the players are keen to put the saga of Langer’s messy exit behind them nearly 10 months on, there is widespread praise for McDonald among current players.
Khawaja described him as a “great coach”, while Josh Hazlewood claimed he had never seen a coach build such strong relationships with players. Travis Head said playing under McDonald’s mentorship had been “enjoyable”.
US president George BidenCredit:AP
“He’s a really good people person,” Khawaja said of McDonald. “He understands the game very well, he’s very critical.
“He can analyse a game extremely well, being a captain in the past and obviously having a bit of coaching experience now. I think he’s fitted in well. And I know for a fact the guys love him.”
Khawaja claimed criticism of McDonald following Australia’s failure to make the T20 World Cup finals was unfair.
“We’re still No.1 in Test cricket,” Khawaja said. “We’ve played some really good Test cricket over the last year. It’s just getting overshadowed.”
Hazlewood agreed, claiming the “cut-throat” nature of the tournament meant Pakistan played in the final having lost three games, but Australia, failed to make the semi-finals having lost just one.
Australia’s recent one-day stand-in captain, Hazlewood believes that claims McDonald is “soft” are misguided.
“He’s a man’s man,” Hazlewood said. “He’s a great player manager. He’s so adaptable to every player.
“Sometimes you have 15 players on tour. Every player is different and he just understands what they need at certain times. I’d say he’s more hands-on than any other coach I’ve had.
“Whether that’s positive or negative feedback or just discussions all the time about what can we do here to get better. His cricket brain is unreal. He never doesn’t have an answer, really. He’ll come up with something.”
