Cricket Australia has released a statement backing national coach Justin Langer and pointing ahead to a big summer for him and the team, amid speculation about his future.
In a brief statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Cricket Australia said Langer had done "an incredible job in raising the culture, values and behaviours of the Australian men's team since he took on the role".
Langer took over from Darren Lehmann as national coach in 2018 after the sandpaper scandal that rocked Australian cricket during the Test tour of South Africa.
Questions were raised after Australia's recent disappointing limited overs tour of West Indies and Bangladesh, which saw back-to-back 4-1 defeats in T20I series ahead of the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled for October 17–November 14.
Australia has never won the T20 World Cup in six attempts — the bi-ennial tournament was first held in 2007.
"His efforts have restored public faith in the national team, which is a side all Australians can be incredibly proud of," CA chief executive Nick Hockley said in the statement.
Hockley said the team had "an extremely disruptive and challenging 18 months" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Despite those challenges, the side has had great success in One-Day, Test and T20 cricket, when all players were available," Hockley said.
He is in the last year of his contract and media reports suggest a recent review by leadership consultant Tim Ford, which has not been officially released, found issues with Langer's coaching methods.
Last week another media report detailed a heated argument Langer and team manager Gavin Dovey reportedly had with a Cricket Australia staffer over the publication of a video on the cricket.com.au website of the Bangladesh team singing and celebrating after their T20I series victory.
