CA rubbishes media reports revolving around Justin Langer's refute

Cricket Australia (CA) has refuted media reports suggesting that the men's team head coach Justin Langer was involved in a "heated argument" with the board members during a meeting where his future was discussed.

Recently, the Australian media had reported that Langer reacted angrily after the prospect of reapplying for the head coach position was raised during a meeting with CA Chief Operating Officer (CEO), Nick Hockley and high-performance head, Ben Oliver last week.

In an official statement, Cricket Australia said, "While we do not comment on confidential conversations, we felt on this occasion it was important to correct the record."

"Among other false claims, we reject outright the assertion that the meeting was fiery or heated and that Justin was asked to reapply for his job," the statement added.

Langer was appointed head coach of the men's team in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal in 2018. His contract is set to expire in the middle of this year and CA did not indicate in their statement that the former opener will get an extension.

"Justin has always been contracted as Head Coach through to the middle of this year and we have consistently maintained that discussions around the future of the role would commence following the conclusion of the men's Ashes series," it said.

Under Langer, Australia retained the Ashes in England in 2019 for the first time since 2001. He also coached the national side to their maiden T20 World Cup title last year before capping off 2021 with the mauling of England (4-0) on home soil.

His two major disappointments were the home series defeats to India in 2018/19 and 2020/21, after which his intense approach came under massive scrutiny.

However, recent success in UAE and at home had added a lot of credit to his bank and former English skipper Michael Vaughan feels that his former rival has done enough to earn an extension.

"If it's true the Coach of Australia has to reapply for his position when he has taken them to No 1 Test team in the World & the T20 World Cup champs in the last few months .. The landscape for success has hugely changed. Isn't it about Winning ??!!!," Vaughan had tweeted on Monday.

Langer's next assignment will be a Test series in Pakistan and if he can lead Australia to a victory in the Asian country, it would go a long way in earning another stint with the men's team.