Australia’s head coach Justin Langer said on Saturday that his coaching philosophy is based on three words, ‘Making Australians Proud’.
A video was posted on social media by Cricket Australia where Langer said the behaviour of players on and off the field became more important than winning or losing with refering the ‘Sandpapergate’.
“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.”
The head coach stated 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.”
“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.”
