'Had an agenda': Legend savages 'gutless' Cummins over Langer exit

Aussie fast bowling legend Mitchell Johnson has become the latest former player to take aim at Pat Cummins over the Justin Langer coaching saga.

Langer resigned as head coach of the Australian men's cricket team on Saturday after rejecting a six-month extension tabled to him by the Cricket Australia (CA) board.

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Assistant coach Andrew McDonald has been appointed interim head coach ahead of next month’s Pakistan tour.

The drawn-out, public process has been heavily criticised by former Test captains including Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh, with CA's treatment of Langer coming under particular fire.

Langer's disciplined approach was credited for the rebuild of the Test side following the 2018 ball-tampering scandal that saw former coach Darren Lehmann stand down.

However, his intense management style reportedly rubbed several players up the wrong way, with none of them publicly backing Langer to remain head coach long-term.

Cummins was specifically asked last week whether he endorsed a contract extension for Langer but the Aussie skipper remain tight-lipped and danced around the questions without fully giving the 51-year-old his support.

In a scathing column for The West Australian, former Test fast bowler Johnson launched a brutal attack on Cummins and the role he played in Langer's eventual exit.

“Pat Cummins has been lauded as some type of cricketing saint since his elevation to the top job this summer," Johnson wrote.

"Cummins might have delivered with the ball during the Ashes series, but he has failed his first big test as captain pretty miserably.

“He had plenty of public opportunities to endorse an extension for Langer. So when he let it through to the keeper every time, it became pretty obvious he didn’t want it to happen.

“Cummins holds a lot of power and must have been central to what’s happened. He’s clearly had an agenda to get in a coach he wants. His recent interviews have been gutless by not respecting his coach when he could have been upfront from the start.”

Test greats fume over Justin Langer's exit

Johnson also took aim at other members of the Australian dressing room and claimed the players had "lost" the respect of himself and the Australian public.

“The baggy green is hyped as the most revered symbol in Australian sport. But what does it stand for now? In the wake of the disgraceful white-anting of Langer as coach, which led to his resignation on Saturday, it stands for selfishness,” he wrote.

Fellow cricket great Matthew Hayden - who was Langer's long-time Test opening partner - also questioned Cummins' comments about the coaching saga.

"It was absolutely clear that no one backed him," an angry Hayden told the ABC.

"If you listen to the Australian captain the other day not mention once any kind of commendation or support for him, I don't think (Justin) would be going very well at all. That would be extremely hurtful.

"The whole thing just reeks of being orchestrated, basically from the moment all of this garbage started coming out (about Langer's coaching style) in winter last year. You could see the writing was on the wall."

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh - another of Langer's former teammates - also pondered how the coach was no longer deemed worthy given the team's return to form and improved standing in the public eye.

"Buzz words but no clarity," he wrote on Instagram.

"Not sure how the team evolves from (already) being loved by the public, being ranked number one in Test cricket and the world champions in T20."

with AAP

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