Ricky Ponting, Hayden slam Cricket Australia

SYDNEY: Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting on Saturday termed Australian head coach Justin Langer's resignation, five months before his term expired, "a really sad day", while another stalwart, Matthew Hayden, castigated Test skipper Pat Cummins for failing to publicly endorse the 51-year-old Langer to get a new contract.

Langer had taken charge of the Australian team in 2018 following the 'Sandpaper gate' scandal, and while he was reportedly unpopular with some player in the side, he guided the team to its maiden ICC T20 World Cup title triumph in the UAE in November last year and the 4-0 Ashes victory recently.

Langer resigned from his post on Saturday, unhappy with the short-term contract extension offered by Cricket Australia (CA) after a marathon seven-hour board meeting.

Both Ponting and Hayden are Langer's former teammates and close friends and they slammed CA for its handling of the matter, less than two months before the start of one of the most crucial Test and One-day International (ODI) series against Pakistan.

Paine stepped down as Australian Test skipper weeks before the start of the Ashes last year after a sexting scandal was revealed. He later took an indefinite break from all forms of cricket. IANS

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