Justin Langer has admitted his coaching career may be over, less than 12 months after his messy departure from the Australian top job.
The 52-year-old led the side to a T20 World Cup and Ashes victory towards the end of his tenure, but it wasn't enough to earn the long-term backing of Cricket Australia officials.
Langer stepped down from the head coaching job after only being offered a six-month contract extension - something that divided the cricket community, including past and present players.
Due to the circumstances regarding his exit, Langer has now told the Cricket Et Cetera podcast he doesn't expect to take up a senior coaching position again.
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“I don’t think I’ll coach again...no, I don’t think I’ll coach again,” he said.
“The craziness is, and it’s really strange in cricket, if you think about a lot of the other codes, the best coaches are a lot older. It doesn’t make sense in cricket.
“I say I’m not going to coach again, but I reckon I’m 10 years off being the best coach I could be.
"I honestly reckon – because things don’t shock you, things don’t surprise you [the more experienced you get].”
Langer found success at domestic level with Western Australian and Perth Scorchers, before making the jump to the Australian job in 2018 during a tricky period following the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town.
His relationship with the playing group, headlined by skipper Pat Cummins, was a major sticking point in the lack of faith from CA despite the on-field results.
Langer admitted the constant speculation about angst within the Australian dressing room was 'heartbreaking' to read about.
“The hardest thing about my last 12 months, and I say it hand on heart, was there was this narrative that I hated the players or the players hated me back...that literally broke my heart,” he said.
“Some of the players may not have liked my style. I am serious, I can be intense - but they know how much I loved them and they loved me back.
“I kept reading this narrative and it literally broke my heart. That’s why when you ask if I’ll be a better coach next time, for my family I am not sure I can go through that again.”
