Australia head coach Justin Langer has expressed his disappointment following Australia’s heartbreaking 1 wicket defeat against England in the 3rd Ashes Test in Headingley. He admitted that the defeat has left the whole team dejected but defended skipper Tim Paine who was criticized from all quarters including former Australian cricketers for his poor review calls.
Paine who has been captaining Australia for well more than a year now had a horrific time while deciding on the reviews. The decision to review a call of Jack Leach backfired in the very next over as onfield umpire Joel Wilson gave not out to a decision which looked plumb in front. Despite the defeat, Justin Langer is hopeful that Australia will be able to regroup for the rest of the matches ad come out stronger.
“You can only imagine how disappointed he (Paine) is. It”s natural. I would be upset if he wasn”t disappointed and feeling deflated about it. You”ve got no idea how much losing today hurts,” said Langer at the post-match presser.
“Whether you”re the captain or the coach or a senior player, you”ve got to get up. We will be disappointed for a day or a night. We might not talk much about it for a day perhaps. But when we get back on it tomorrow, we”ll review it, like we do every game, and we”ll review it together. Make sure we get it better next time”.
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England still had a review in hand when Stokes was adjudged not out by Joel Wilson. However, Australia didn’t have a review as they wasted it just an over back. It proved to be decisive as England won by a solitary wicket. Had the decision went in favour of Australia, the visitors would have completed a thrilling 1 run victory. However, that wasn’t to be. Despite Joel Wilson’s dubious decisions, Langer said that sometimes reviews goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t.
“The umpire should make the decision he thinks is right regardless of reviews, in my opinion. So, if they think it”s out, they should give it and if they don”t, give it not out. The review system is as it is, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn”t.” Langer accepted the fact that they have been quite below par in the usage of DRS this series.
“Yes, we”ve been really poor at it this series. There wasn”t so many this game as there was at Lord”s. Certainly, we have control on that and we do have some plans in place for it. But sometimes, you just don”t get it right. Also, to be fair, the one-off Pat Cummins at the end, we were getting desperate and that often happens. That”s how things work out.”