Justin Langer's Vision: Make Australians Proud With Players' Behaviour

Australian cricket chief coach Justin Langer said on Saturday that his coaching philosophy was based on three words, 'Making Australians Proud', and that every time he interacted with his players and coaching staff, he wanted to ensure they adhered to the philosophy.

Langer said on a video posted by Cricket Australia (CA) on its website that in the aftermath of the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal - also known as the 'Sandpapergate' - the behavior of players on and off the field became more important than winning or losing.

"So, for me, when I took over after the Sandpapergate, it was not just win-loss; it was about how we were going to make the Australians proud of us again or, maybe, make Australians like us again," said Langer in a chat with Matthew Hayden.

"It was how we went about our business on and off the field. And when you talk about (England's) Geoff (Boycott), you talk about all great leaders. Probably the number one part of leadership is that you've got to have a vision, you've got to know what direction you are heading."

Langer said that his vision for the team was that they needed to be respectful.

"That was the vision I sold to the (Cricket Australia) board, to the CEO, and most importantly, to the players and support staff. By saying "Make Australians Proud", I mean make your grandparents, your mum and dad, your mates, and the broader public proud of you." Langer said that Australia was a proud cricketing country and players couldn't take respect for granted.

"If we think about 'I don't want to see you losing all the time or winning all the time', that's one part of it, but I don't want to see you acting like a complete nob on the cricket field; I don't want to see you abusive to the opposition, I don't want to show disrespect to the public. And, that I think is a really strong vision."

Talking about the team's goals, he said, "Our next mission is the T20 World Cup, then the Ashes. Making Australians proud is a really important vision and the goals underneath that are equally important."