‘Unimaginable’: Langer in box seat to coach Ashes foe

Former Australian opener Justin Langer is firming as favourite to replace Brendon McCullum as England’s Test coach.

Langer’s name shot to the top of the list following confirmation former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower, who held the England role between 2009-2014 and had been favourite for a second stint in the job, had ruled himself out of the running.

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Langer had only just been pushed out of the Australian coaching job when the England gig was last available in 2022. He scoffed at reports he was in the running.

“I’ve never spoken to English cricket,” he said at the time. “The thought of coaching England … mate!”

Langer scored 1658 runs at 50.24 from 21 Ashes Tests. He scored five hundreds with a best of 250 on Boxing Day in 2002.

McCullum was sacked from the Test job earlier this month, but remains coach of the ODI team.

Flower declined the job because he didn’t want to dilute his existing commitments to two white-ball franchises. He coaches the London Spirit in The Hundred in England and the Royal Challengers Bangaluru in the IPL.

Putting aside the optics of an Australian coaching the Ashes foe, Langer would have to face the same dilemma before he could take the role. He took over from Flower as coach of the Lucknow Super Giants in 2023, and also coaches the Super Giants’ Manchester franchise in The Hundred.

The ECB had earlier said they would be open to allowing its Test coach to also hold a franchise position, but Flower did not believe it would be possible.

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“For me personally, I don’t think I could have done both, especially with the IPL being held during the first couple of months of the English summer,” he said.

“If I was England Test coach, I’d like to be here watching and interacting with the people I needed to watch and interact with, so for me, that wasn’t a possibility.”

In The Telegraph (UK), cricket writer Nick Hoult declared a Langer-led England “unimaginable” in theory, but his “rigour and exacting standards” could be what the side needed.

And for Langer personally, leading England to an Ashes victory would be “revenge” on Cricket Australia for forcing him out of a job he did not want to leave.

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“Although Langer was sometimes seen as too intense with Australia, these qualities could be better served helping a team at England’s stage of their development; he might even have softened a little, too,” Hoult wrote.

Former New Zealand quick Stephen Fleming is also reportedly among the other frontrunners. The 53-year-old told the New Zealand Herald he had not been approached by the ECB, by was “quite humbled” to be linked to the job.

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“I’d 100 per cent give it some consideration, just out of respect. If another country thought you could add some value, it’s quite a compliment,” he said.

Retired Sri Lanka keeper-batter Kumar Sangakkara and India legend Rahul Dravid are also leading candidates.

The only Englishman in the discussion currently is Richard Dawson, who has previously held assistant roles within England’s white-ball set up. He has never been a head coach of an international team.

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