Australian captain Pat Cummins has broken his silence on the saga surrounding former coach Justin Langer ahead of the first home Test since he was forced out as coach.
Langer made some explosive comments in reference to cowards around the team’s sanctum in relation to his axing in the wake of the team’s successful Ashes campaign and Twenty20 World Cup win.
Langer since denied his comments were directed at players and rejected the claim there was any ill-feeling towards the current team.
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But reading between the lines he seemed disenchanted with the way everything went down after he was forced to quit his post after not being offered a contract extension.
Cummins responded to the coward claims on Tuesday 24 hours out from the first Test.
“There’s no cowards in an Australian cricket team, not ever,” Cummins told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’d probably never disclose private conversations. I think it’s disappointing sometimes the focus gets drawn to off-field issues,”
Player power was considered to have played a big part in Langer’s exit, but Cummins revealed on SEN radio that there was no bad blood and that he was looking forward to seeing Langer, who is working with Channel 7, in and around the first Test in Perth.
“There’s always chat at the start of the summer between how different interviews will work, so yea we will sort it out,” Cummins said on SEN radio.
“There will be no issues, the players are looking forward to seeing JL (Justin Langer), some of the ex-players we grew up idolising these guys.
“There won’t be any issues from that front.”
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Cummins is adamant the outside noise surrounding the players and their former coach had not affected the team and their preparations for the first home summer since Langer was ousted, while he hosed down talk of fractures with former players and teammates of Langer’s during his playing days.
“I think all the other noise, sometimes it can affect the playing group I think this particular last week or two the playing group has been so good,” Cummins said.
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“(The group) is in a such a good place, we know a lot of this noise doesn’t match up with the experiences that we have in the group.
“We feel like we are in a great place, number one in the world, even relationships with ex-players we get along fine with them.
“There’s not much to a lot of it so we just laugh it off and move on.”
