Michael Vaughan lauds ‘Courageous’ Pat Cummins for clearing the air over Justin Langer’s exit

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has said that Australia Test skipper Pat Cummins has shown how to handle a press conference. Cummins answered the question regarding Justin Langer’s resignation in a virtual press conference on February 9. The right-arm pacer was facing a lot of heat from Mitchell Johnson after Langer’s resignation. Johnson had criticized the pacer for not standing up for Langer’s extension.

Langer had resigned from the role of head coach of the national team after he was offered a short-term extended contract. The contract was supposed to start from June this year till the end of the 20-20 World Cup in Australia. Also, his four-year contract was supposed to end in June this year. Meanwhile, the 2005 Ashes-winning skipper took to Twitter and said that the press conference was a master class in delivering answers with empathy.

“Pat Cummins inside 4 months as a Captain has shown exactly how to do it … Todays press conference was a masterclass in delivering empathy with clarity to why things have happened … he just knows how to do it,” tweeted Vaughan.

Cummins in the press conference said that Cricket Australia thought it was the right to make a change in the coaching staff, adding that Langer should not be surprised by the decision as the decision was taken after evaluating his performance in the last to years.

“I think he tweaked and changed quite a bit. He deserves a lot of credit for that. I think the question then became do we think that it’s sustainable. We thought it is the right time to make a change. I think some of these skill sets are perhaps a little bit different to perhaps his traditional coaching style,” Cummins had told reporters.