Australian men’s head coach Justin Langer shockingly announced his surprise resignation Saturday, just weeks after trouncing archrivals England in a lopsided Ashes series and months after winning the T20 World Cup. He has taken a harsh step after witnessing a difficult relationship with players and offensive talks with governing body Cricket Australia. He was reportedly asked by the board to reapply for the job and being offered a short-term contract, despite winning the Ashes by a 4-0 margin.

Sports management company DSEG announced Langer’s departure in a terse statement saying “our client Justin Langer has this morning tendered his resignation as coach of the Australian men’s cricket team”. CA confirmed the news saying, “The resignation follows a meeting with Cricket Australia last evening. The resignation is effective immediately.”

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Justin Langer played a crucial role in curbing down the toxic win-at-all-costs culture that led to the team’s ball-tampering disgrace in Cape Town four years ago. However, in recent times, Langer started losing support in the dressing room, with aggrieved players complaining anonymously to local media about his “headmaster-like” leadership style.

Cricket Australia has today accepted the resignation of men's team head coach Justin Langer. pic.twitter.com/BhjrN9kuF3

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) February 5, 2022

Given his record, former teammate Ricky Ponting was incredulous that the future of Justin Langer when his contract runs out mid-year was even up for discussion.

Elaborating the same, Ricky Ponting said, “On performance, there is absolutely no way that Justin Langer cannot continue on as head coach of this Australian cricket team.”

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Players have often been heard grumblings about the behavior of Justin Langer shortly after a sexting scandal forced the departure of Tim Paine. Regardless of how his tenure as coach ended, Langer’s feats with the bat have already sealed a spot in Australian cricket’s Hall of Fame. Justin Langer played 105 Tests from 1993 to 2007, averaging 45.27 and amassing 7,696 runs, including 23 centuries.