Miffed Justin Langer confronts Cricket Australia website staffer for adding Bangladesh celebration video
Australia’s under-fire head coach Justin Langer was reportedly involved in a verbal spat with a staff member from Cricket Australia (CA) after his team’s disappointing loss in the third T20I of the just-concluded five-match series in Bangladesh.
As the tourists suffered another chastening defeat to be down 3-0 in the series in Dhaka, Langer and Gavin Dovey, the travelling team manager, understood to have taken offence to a popular video posted by the cricket.com.au website.
The video had scenes of bliss from the Bangladesh team’s dressing room as they celebrated their historic series triumph over the Aussies with a song and dance. Those delightful moments, however, were a cause of a heated exchange between Langer and the CA staffer in the Australian camp.
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Justin Langer had a go at one CA digital staff member after loss against Bangladesh.
Justin Langer miffed at CA staff member over digital content around loss in Dhaka
The name of the member from CA’s digital team wasn’t made public for privacy purposes by The Age, but it reported a source close to the Australian team to have said that this member was at the receiving end of some harsh words from Langer and Dovey in relation to the content in the video.
In their report, The Sydney Morning Herald mentioned that the “confrontations” took place separately at the team hotel in Dhaka. “Sources close to the team said the incidents were witnessed by at least a dozen people and left some players taken aback and with a sense of unease about what had transpired,” the report further stated.
The discussions with the staff member shoot up to controversial proportions once the member took a firm stand on the matter. While Justin Langer and Dovey were ideologically against the posting of a Bangladesh team song video over an Australian board website, the staff member argued otherwise. Notably, cricket.com.au have never posted Australia-only content over their website or social media handles.
Though Langer is yet to respond to the reports, Dovey made a public statement on the matter on Wednesday (August 11). “A healthy team environment includes the ability to have honest and frank discussions, whether it be between players, support staff or others within the team environment, which was the case here,” he was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
“There was a difference of opinion and we agreed to disagree on a particular matter. In hindsight, it was one of those instances which should have taken place in private. I take full ownership of that.”
The staff member is one of the two digital media operators that CA had for Australian men’s successive tours to the West Indies and Bangladesh. While the tourists won the ODIs in the Caribbean 2-1, they suffered defeats by identical 4-1 margin in the T20I series against both oppositions.