Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has lambasted Test captain Pat Cummins for being “gutless” in not endorsing the outgoing coach Justin Langer publicly.
Following a meeting with Cricket Australia on Friday night, Langer, on Saturday morning, announced his resignation effective immediately as the head coach of the Australian men’s team, rejecting the offer of a six-month extension that would have seen him in the role till the end of the home T20 World Cup this year.
Soon after, stunning reactions followed with former skipper Ricky Ponting labelling it as “a sad day for Australian cricket” and called the board’s handling of this saga as “embarrassing”.
Johnson blasted the Test skipper, saying that Cummins has been made a “saint” after the Ashes win, but failed his test off the field.
“Pat Cummins has been lauded as some type of cricketing saint since his elevation to the top job this summer. Cummins might have delivered with the ball during the Ashes series, but he has failed his first big test as captain pretty miserably,” Johnson was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
Johnson was utterly unhappy that Cummins, an influential voice in Australian cricket, didn’t endorse Langer enough in public, and alleged that the pacer “has an agenda” to get the coach of his choice.
“He had plenty of public opportunities to endorse an extension for Langer. So when he let it through to the keeper every time, it became pretty obvious he didn’t want it to happen.
“Cummins holds a lot of power and must have been central to what’s happened. He’s clearly had an agenda to get in a coach he wants. His recent interviews have been gutless by not respecting his coach when he could have been upfront from the start,” concluded Johnson.
Langer had taken over the duties from Darren Lehmann in 2018 after the ‘Sandpapaper’ or ball-tampering saga in South Africa. Under Langer, although Australia lost twin series at home to India, they retained the Ashes in England for the first time in 18 years in 2019, and ends his tenure on a high after winning Australia’s maiden T20 World Cup and the Ashes.
