Grabbed Adam Gilchrist by the neck due to emotional frustration, recalls Justin Langer
Justin Langer recalled a chilling incident from his playing days when he grabbed his good mate Adam Gilchrist by the neck due to frustration with his own form. Langer revealed that after being dropped for the 2001 Ashes, he took his frustration on teammates due to his own bad run of form.
After being a regular in the Australian Test side since late 1998, Justin Langer, who had an ordinary series in India in 2001, was left out of the first four Ashes Tests versus England in 2001 in order to accommodate the ever-so-elegant Damien Martyn, who had forced his way into the side through immaculate consistency and heavy run-scoring. Langer, who batted at No.3 for the first eight years of his career, was informed of his axing from the side two days prior to the start of the first Test at Edgbaston by his then-skipper Steve Waugh, who broke the news to the southpaw that he was being overlooked for the big encounter.
Speaking on former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson's Lessons Learnt with the Greats podcast, the now-Australian coach revealed that the news of the axing took an emotional toll on him and added that he thought he was certain his career was over, given he was 31 years of age. Langer revealed that he batted atrociously in the practice games that followed due to him trying too hard to desperately get back into the side.
"This is my hero and my big brother (Steve Waugh), telling me that I was out, and I was literally shocked, I just didn't see it coming. Damien Martyn had been in such amazing form in the one-day series leading up to it and he was so good (that) they couldn't ignore him, and I was the casualty from it," Langer told Watson in the podcast, reported foxsports.com.au.
"What happened next was that I was doing all the physical stuff that Aussie blokes do, but what I wasn't doing, I had to let go of the emotional bit as 'I'm 31 years old, it's the end of the dream, I'm out, I'm gone.' And so for the next six-seven-eight weeks, I was playing the practice games, and I was batting so bad because I was trying so hard.”
An injury to skipper Steve Waugh in the third Test ruled him out of the rest of the series and opened the door for Langer to get back into the side, and all the Western Australian needed was to get big runs in the warm-up game versus Sussex, that was sandwiched between the third and the fourth Test.
However, despite batting twice, the southpaw was able to score just 16 runs across two innings and his already-bad knocks were made to look terrible by Adam Gilchrist, who struck a nonchalant 102-ball 114 in the game. Langer revealed that he felt embarrassed looking at Gilchrist bat effortlessly, whilst he perished cheaply and added that he grabbed the wicket-keeper by his neck out of sheer frustration.
"I remember at Sussex and I'm thinking, 'This is my chance, come on, Tugga (Waugh) is out, this is my chance.' At Sussex, I remember the first innings, I batted with Gilly, and I nearly started crying at the crease because Gilly is smacking them all around the park. I can't even hit the ball to the square.
"Then I am like, 'C'mon, if I'll get some runs in the second innings, I'll play the next Test.' Then they are going back 10 minutes before stumps, and I was opening the batting there's nothing worse. And I'm like, 'C'mon, just get through 10-15 minutes', and I'm out for a duck. What happens next is I'm walking off at the Hove and I wanted the whole ground to open up and swallow me.
"Adam Gilchrist, he is one of my great friends, and who was the captain, I grabbed him by the neck and chucked him up against the wall, 'Look what you blokes have done to me!' and I got really upset."
Langer missed out on the fourth Test but was picked for the fifth at The Oval, where he marked his return to the side with an unbeaten 102* whilst opening the batting. That eventually became a watershed moment in the southpaw’s career as he then went on to become a permanent opener, a move that turned his career around. Langer went on to score 16 tons as an opener and ended his career in 2007 as one of the greatest top-order batsmen to have played for Australia.