"Australian cricket coach Justin Langer secretly knocked back a six figure sum in bonuses because he felt it would be morally inappropriate amid Covid job cuts," eminent cricket writers Robert Craddock and Peter Lalor reported for an Australian newspaper.
Langer reportedly does not enjoy a great rapport with the players, and Cricket Australia (CA) might be having second thoughts about renewing his contract after June.
Thompson and Langer become the 58th and 59th inductees respectively, since the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was established in 1996.
Langer was appointed head coach in the aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 to overhaul the team's culture and regain the respect of the Australian public. His contract is due to end in June.
Langer had faced criticism for his coaching methods from the players but now has a Twenty20 World Cup in his CV and is also close to adding the coveted Ashes Trophy win to it.
The left-handed opener Marcus Harris will be continuing for the Ashes despite running through a dry run of patch. "He'll play in the Test, no worries about that", says Australia cricket coach Justin Langer.
Australia and New Zealand will square off in the finals of the World Cup on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Tensions flared up between the 46-year-old Langer and the cricketers and Cricket Australia (CA) had to do a lot of fire-fighting, holding an emergency Zoom meeting on August 18 .
Usman Khawaja, who clashed with Justin Langer in 2018, has backed the embattled coach to continue in the position through the Ashes and urged the payers to stop undermining him.
Cracks had emerged between Langer and players with the Aussie media reporting that the rift between the players and the coach was exacerbated by the series loss to India in 2020-21.
A Zoom meeting reportedly took place on Wednesday (August 18) to discuss the differences between coach Langer and the players and CA chairman Earl Eddings among others.
Langer was in the news after reports of a heated argument with a CA staff member over a video of Bangladesh's winning celebrations. The saga led to questions over the 50-year-old's future as coach.
The incident took place after host Bangladesh had taken a 3-0 unassailable lead to register their first-ever bilateral series win over the Aussies.
Langer said that Mitchell Marsh may be promoted to the top order, and Moises Henriques and wicket-keeper Ben McDermott may also be given chances in the T20I series.
Langer also talked about Christian being a lucky charm due to his globe-rotting T20 titles.
Australia are currently touring West Indies for a five-match T20 series and three ODIs.
Finch said Langer could have done better had life in different bio-bubbles been managed well.
A source-based report in the 'Sydney Morning Herald' said, the 50-year-old was given a "strong and straightforward" feedback -- taken from 40 players and support staff -- about his coaching style as part of the team's regular end-of-season reviews.
The board of Cricket Australia will determine whether Smith can return to captaincy at its next meeting.
Australia were fined four WTC points for being two overs behind in the second Test of the four-match series.
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