Shane Warne hits out at ‘pathetic’ Cricket Australia over Justin Langer exit

Shane Warne has branded Cricket Australia’s handling of Justin Langer’s exit ‘pathetic’ and ‘disgraceful’.

Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday that Langer, 51, had resigned as head coach of the men’s team after rejecting a short-term contract extension.

Langer’s resignation comes amid reports of unhappiness within the Australian squad despite the T20 World Cup triumph in November and recent Ashes victory.

‘To treat the head coach the way they have, it’s an absolute disgrace what they’ve done,’ Australia legend Warne said on the Follow-On podcast.

‘All of us who have played with Justin, we are not coming out because he’s our friend or a great cricketer or a Hall of Famer. We are coming out because it’s the treatment of the coach.

‘Forget it’s Justin Langer. It’s just the treatment of Cricket Australia and the way they have handled the coach of the Australian cricket team. It’s been pathetic.’

Langer took over the team following the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 which saw captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batter Cameron Bancroft banned.

While Langer’s Australia were twice beaten at home to India, they retained the Ashes with a 2-2 draw in England in the summer of 2019 before hammering Joe Root’s side 4-0 this winter.

Australia also pulled off an unlikely victory at the 2021 T20 World Cup, beating New Zealand by eight wickets in the final.

Given Australia’s recent success, Warne believes Langer’s resignation may have set the team back several years.

‘We were finally starting to see the integrity coming back to the Australian cricket,’ the former leg-spinner added. ‘It’s not a great Australian cricket team we are talking about here.

‘But all that Justin Langer put in over three or four years, we are just starting to